All The President's Men

Last night, I rented the DVD of All the President's Men. I was mentioning this at work near the coffee station, and an older gentleman remarked that it was the anniversary of the break-in at Watergate just the other day (June 17, 1972). He said to the group of us that we probably hadn't even been born when this happened. Not so! I was four years old.

The movie is dying for a director's commentary, an actor's commentary, a screen writer's commentary, and a historical critique commentary. Perhaps the kind folks at Criterion could spin this up. I'd buy it.

The impulse to watch it again was from reading the Boston Globe's profile on Senator John Kerry. When he was running for Congress back in early 1972, he felt Nixon operatives were at work to derail his nomination. "That Nixon sure was evil!" I thought. Then I started thinking about the movie. "I should see it again." Next thing you know, it's 11PM, and I start the two-hour movie. I couldn't break away from it.

I highly recommend this movie. You never would think that a movie whose primary action consists of phone calls and furious typing would be so compelling, but it is.