Review of Nixon (1995) by James E — 19 Nov 2007

Stone is one of those directors whose movies suffer from being both brilliantly inspired yet often flawed. Like Kubrick you'll be hard pushed to read a review that concedes uncategorically that the Director has created a coherent whole, a work of such perfect sense that it can hold its own amongst the best.

Yet films by both directors have demanded vast swathes of attention from both critics and public alike and, like them of loath them, one has to admit that the works of these virtual auteurs are visually powerful if nothing else.

Of course that there could be nothing else to them is a million miles from the truth but both directors have been guilty of swaddling the content of their films in bombastic visuals and, at times, faintly ridiculous imagery.

But here's the crack - the rift between humour and sincerity is not as wide as you think and never has this been more true when watching what I consider to be Oliver Stones' masterpiece - Nixon.

Whether you agree with me here will depend very much on two things. Firstly it would help if you had an interest (or awareness at least) in Richard Nixon's reputation of being a slightly left-of-field President (not in the political sense of course).

With statements used to justify the bombing of Cambodia like "This is the Nixon Doctrine in it's purest form" it's not hard to see why some despised the man. But were it not for the charm and the tragedy of the President cruelly slain two terms before Nixons' own we might be more forgiving.

Vietnam was Kennedys gig after all and as in life 'Nixon' shows how dealing with this cold war hangover from a more paranoid era took up more time than any Presidency deserved. 'Peace with Honour' was Nixon's mantra and I think most leaders would have wanted the same.

But I digress... The second factor which might impact on how much you get from this film is the performance of Hopkins himself. If like me you find him hysterically brilliant then this film is for you too.

Great one liners abound as Hopkins sniffs, grimaces and shouts his way through the film taking side swipes at anyone and anything that gets in his way ("Even the dog hates me!"). It really is an extraordinary performance at times hilariously funny and others downright sad.

And it's not just Hopkins either; James Woods, Paul Sorvino, E.G. Marshall, Joan Allen to name but a few offer admirable support in a movie that hinges on it's dialogue and characterisation as much as anything else.

And yet, this time, Stones' ever-enthusiastic visuals never cloy. On the contrary they seem suited to the chaos, the tragedy and the outrage of the subject matter just perfectly. And it's this dysphoria that Stone is trying to get across, this sense of Nixon as doomed anti-hero whose circumstance as much as his own 'self' seemed destined to get in the way of the great things he wanted to achieve.

Still, the most captivating moments are often when Stone turns down the ante and we're left privy to the machinations of office, Nixon and his aides discussing the problems of the day. It's here where Hopkins conveys the intelligence of the man, the pragmatism and we're no longer left wondering why one would want to make a film about Richard Milhaus Nixon in the first place.

A classic.