Nixon (1995)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

Stephen J. Rivele (written by) &
Christopher Wilkinson (written by) ...

Release Date:

20 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

He had greatness within his grasp.

Plot:

A biographical story of former U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon, from his days as a young boy to his eventual presidency which ended in shame.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Political Drama | Epic | Quaker | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Anthony Hopkins	...	Richard M. Nixon
Joan Allen	...	Pat Nixon
Powers Boothe	...	Alexander Haig
Ed Harris	...	E. Howard Hunt
Bob Hoskins	...	J. Edgar Hoover
E.G. Marshall	...	John Mitchell
David Paymer	...	Ron Ziegler
David Hyde Pierce	...	John Dean
Paul Sorvino	...	Henry Kissinger
Mary Steenburgen	...	Hannah Nixon
J.T. Walsh	...	John Ehrlichman
James Woods	...	H.R. Haldeman
Brian Bedford	...	Clyde Tolson
Kevin Dunn	...	Charles Colson
Fyvush Finkel	...	Murray Chotiner

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

192 min | USA:212 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:R (certificate #34303) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:12 | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

El Dorado Regional Park - 7550 E. Spring Street, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment

Trivia:

When Nixon returns from China and goes to the press area aboard Air Force One, the reporter in the front row on the left side can be seen knocking his head on the overhead compartment. This was the first of three takes of this shot. After Oliver Stone noticed on playback that Jim (the reporter) had bumped his head, Stone called for another take, which was followed by a third, "just to make sure". Ironically, the first take, with Jim the reporter's head bump, is the one that made it into the final film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nixon signs his resignation letter, two very different signatures are used.

Quotes:

Mao-Tse-Tung: [Speaking through an interpreter] Is peace all you are interested in? The real war is in us. History is a symptom of our disease.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

SHENANDOAH

A Sympathetic View of a Hated Man

Everyone accuses Oliver Stone of being a conspiracy theorist, a revisionist historian, a muckraker, and a falsifier of history. Whether these things are true or not, he is a great director and his portrait of president Richard Nixon is sensitive, fair, and human. Stone may be opposed to Nixon, but he does not depict him as a monster. Stone and Hopkins give us Nixon, the man undone by fear. He is not condemned, nor is he forgiven. In spite of some scenes suggesting a connection with conspirators involved in the assassination of JFK, the president is given a fair shake.

Hopkins gives a wonderful performance as Nixon. He's not a carbon copy, but he gets the voice and mannerisms down so well that it doesn't matter. At his side he has Joan Allen as Pat and Paul Sorvino as a picture perfect Henry Kissinger. The supporting cast features James Woods, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris, and E.G. Marshall and, for their part, they shine as well. Call Stone over the top all you want, but he gets real performances.

The biopic structure of "Nixon" starts us off with his political career in the late 50s. The audience gets a taste of the man's relationship with his wife and (mostly through flashbacks) his relationship with his mother. The flashback structure and editing scheme aren't as impressive as those used by Stone in "JFK", but they serve the movie well and make the 3 hours run by smoothly. As the story rolls on you get a real sense of sympathy for Nixon. I was pretty surprised how much pathos Stone could build for a character history labels a monster. Throughout the Watergate scandal we are not outraged at Nixon, we fear for him, his paranoia is ours. Nixon is a human being just like us and we can understand his mistakes and his flaws and his fears. By the end it's hard to think of him as the monster you thought of before.

Robert Richardson's stunning photography helps to perfectly render this drama. "Nixon" is a sensational looking movie. Just like Stone did with "JFK" and "Natural Born Killers", the photography and editing work to heighten the drama and never distract from it. The approach as human rather than historical drama makes "Nixon" believable and touching. Who'd have thought I'd ever shed tears over Richard Nixon! Anthony Hopkins does the trick.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys good drama. Fans of the cast and of Oliver Stone won't be disappointed.