Nixon

Year: 1995
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Written By: Oliver Stone, Christopher Wilkinson, and Stephen J. Rivele

RYAN’S REVIEW

Richard Nixon was a profoundly interesting individual for so many reasons.  To imagine all the national secrets he must have known after his lengthy time involved in the highest levels of government is mind boggling.  The amount of history that he personally had a hand in is incredible and worthy of a number of films.  The problem with this movie is that it is painfully long but there was simply no other way to do it.  Even at more than three hours it had to gloss over so much of what Richard Nixon was all about. This is an interesting movie if you have a mind to see a biased and dramatized depiction of actual events but I wouldn’t call it entertaining.  This is a good movie but it is altogether too slow and boring to really enjoy.

Despite how great of an actor he is I feel like Anthony Hopkins is the problem.  He does a terrific job acting and was nominated for the Academy Award for his performance but I still think he is the problem here.  It’s not his fault either but he just doesn’t look anything like Nixon.  Nixon was a unique looking person but he looks so different I find it distracting.  Those distinct features that made Nixon so easily recognizable are necessary and no matter how good Hopkins was he just didn’t look anything like Richard Nixon. The nose is all wrong.

Beyond Hopkins this movie had a stellar cast and a director who had a passion for the content.  Nevertheless the movie drags and you really have to be invested to get into it.  I couldn’t successfully get my wife to sit down for this one with me and I’ll be brutally honest in that I found it difficult myself.  This is a great movie, but it is not a good one.  I could get really into the nuts and bolts of that but frankly don’t feel the effort would be worth it.

If you enjoyed this movie enough to say something good about it leave us a comment and speak your mind.  Otherwise, you won’t be missing much if you don’t see this one and I don’t consider it worth your time to see. This movie is in our collection as a stalwart from my college years.  I could have written a really in depth review about it back then but these days my passion runs colder for this type of film.

NEXT MOVIE: No Country for Old Men (2007)