All the President's Men         

By Jeff Shannon

It helps to have one of history's greatest scoops as your factual inspiration, but journalism thrillers just don't get any better than All the President's Men. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are perfectly matched as (respectively) Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation into the Watergate scandal set the stage for President Richard Nixon's eventual resignation. Their bestselling exposé was brilliantly adapted by screenwriter William Goldman, and director Alan Pakula crafted the film into one of the most intelligent and involving of the Super70s paranoid thrillers. Featuring Jason Robards in his Oscar-winning role as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, All the President's Men is the film against which all other journalism movies must be measured.

Parody

Although the 1999 comedy Dick is not strictly speaking a parody of the movie All The President's Men, it is close enough to make an excellent back-to-back viewing some night. Of course you should watch Dick second even though it's the comedy.

Academy Awards

All the President's Men received Academy Awards for Supporting Actor (Jason Robards), Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium; William Goldman), Art Direction/Set Decoration (George Jenkins - Art Direction, George Gaines - Set Decoration), and Sound (Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Jim Webb). All the President's Men also received Academy Awards nominations for Best Picture (Walter Coblenz - Producer), Supporting Actress (Jane Alexander), Directing (Alan J. Pakula), and Film Editing (Robert L. Wolfe).

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