X
- 1976
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 18 m
- 1976
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 18 m
Summary In the Watergate Building on June 17, 1972, lights go on and four burglars are caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Headquarters. That night triggered revelations that would eventually drive a U.S. President from office. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) gra...
Directed By: Alan J. Pakula
Written By: Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman
- 1976
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 18 m
- 1976
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 18 m
All the President's Men
8.1
Where to Watch
Summary In the Watergate Building on June 17, 1972, lights go on and four burglars are caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Headquarters. That night triggered revelations that would eventually drive a U.S. President from office. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) gra...
Directed By: Alan J. Pakula
Written By: Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
84
94% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
84
94% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A riveting, superbly acted political thriller.
One of modern American film’s most intelligent and provocative accounts of a nation’s political failings, and a near-perfect depiction of journalism at its purist and most inspired. To be more succinct, it is quite brilliant.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 63 User Ratings
8.1
94% Positive
59 Ratings
59 Ratings
6% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 63 User Ratings
8.1
94% Positive
59 Ratings
59 Ratings
6% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
An all-time classic that I watch whenever it's on cable. It may seem like a relic of a time gone by, but this was journalism in its purest form. The folks that attend the daily White House briefings, with their incessant questions about the shiny objects of the day, should watch this a few times so they can learn to ask some REAL questions to the powers that be.
Report
This ramains one of the most thrilling movies ever. The pace is slow and the journalism is detailed and exhausting in a good way. It may be too slow for some, but it just keeps my attention during every second.
This movie has one of my favorite scenes of all time.
That scene with Robert Redford on the telephone. You know, the one that's like a five minute long uncut close-up of him talking. Yeah, that's one of the best movie scenes ever filmed, and the fact that he messes up a line and they kept it in makes it even better.
I love this movie.
Report
The manners and methods of big-city newspapering, beautifully detailed, contribute as much to the momentum of the film as the mystery that's being uncovered. Maybe even more, since the real excitement of All The President's Men is in watching two comparatively inexperienced reporters stumble onto the story of their lives and develop it triumphantly, against all odds.
Screenwriter William Goldman's excellent craftsmanship made what could have been an insular political saga into a captivating detective story, earning him an Academy Award. And director Alan Pakula, relying on director Costa-Gavra's 1969 political thriller Z as his inspiration, created an absorbing study of the criminal arrogance that power can incite. [01 Dec 2002, p.9]
All the President’s Men’s masterstroke is how it rejects mythologizing the pivotal history behind it, appropriately forgoing a climax by closing on a simple telex furiously relaying messages. The film doesn’t present two underdogs bringing down a president; it’s two reporters doing business as usual.
Inevitably softened by hints of self-congratulation concerning the success of Woodward and Bernstein's uncovering of the Watergate affair, Pakula's film is nevertheless remarkably intelligent, working both as an effective thriller (even though we know the outcome of their investigations) and as a virtually abstract charting of the dark corridors of corruption and power.
Alan Pakula's pedestrian 1976 recap of Watergate is a study in missed opportunities.
In the beginning, Redford and Pakula said, “let us make the journalistic thriller in our image, in our likeness, so that it may rule over all the theater screens across the country and all the shelves at the Best Buy 'classics' rack, over every wannabe Spielberg pre(?)-make and over every lowly serf that thinks you absolutely need explosions or killings in your movie for it to be any good.” "All The President's Men" is just plain ol' cracker-jack storytelling. Though, yes, it most certainly helps that the story in play is already fascinating enough -- and true, to boot -- it also doesn't hurt to have one of the world's greatest screenwriters staging your scene dynamics, drafting up your dialogue, and structuring your overall narrative. Aside from William Goldman's expertly constructed screenplay, this also just so happens to represent Alan J. Pakula putting on an absolute clinic in how to make a seemingly dry movie look incredible. From the dank, expressive corners of a darkened parking structure, to the blindingly bright interiors of the Washington Post's office floor, it all feels expertly staged and shot. Oh, and Redford and Hoffman are pretty damned good as well. Not that that needed clearing up or anything. In the end, "All The President's Men" is an engrossing, beautifully realized story of power, journalistic integrity, and the importance of getting/making things right.
Report
Although a slow-burn, Alan J Pakula's gripping exploration into the Watergate scandal as seen through the eyes of two journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward played by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. Every character from Ben Bradley (Jason Robards we love you) and Hal Holbrook (does that guy ever put a foot wrong)as Deep Throat to bookkeeper Jane Alexander is drawn with nuance and played with subtlety as the enormity of the exercise closes around them. Pakula shoots fabulous wide shots of Government buildings that dwarf the players, accentuating their ant-like existance within the towers of Babel they hope to pull down. The library scene where a shaky camera moves up into the ceiling slowly reveals the two journalists caught in the spider's web of deceit which they must unravel before the spider gets to them first. And still there is time for fun. Like when Hoffman lights up a cigarette in the elevator, as the doors close on them Redford asks "Is there anywhere you don't smoke?" A brilliant and detailed exploration of what now seem like innocent times and a nostalgic love story of journalism, that once proud and dignified profession.
Report
All the President's Men is one of the key films in its genre, and it does not dissapoint. Marvellously written and with a tremendous ensemble, it's immersive and makes you wanna know more about the subject. It doesn't beat around the bush and plays all its cards to its script, serious and with no frills or unnecessary dramatisation. Alan J. Pakula undoubtedly made a great choice.
Report
It could have come from the pen of John Grisham, except that it really happened. The story is told straight, and it really does work as an entertaining piece of cinema. The plot never meanders from the cat and mouse game between The Washington Post's Woodward and Bernstein, and a secretive and well financed dirty tricks campaign working within Nixon's re-election committee. There is a lot of great detail about journalistic ethics and practice, and the tension between protecting anonymous sources, and getting it "on the record".
Also a short standout scene featuring Robert Walden as Donald Segretti, as one of the campaign's gonzo operatives.
Report
Production Company
Wildwood Enterprises
Release Date Apr 9, 1976
Duration 2 h 18 m
Rating PG
Tagline At times it looked like it might cost them their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 4 Wins & 8 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 4 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 10 Nominations
