Blu-ray Review: Nixon - The Election Year Edition

Back in 1995, Stone decided to take on the story of Richard M. Nixon, former president of the United States whose presidency ended in disgrace. Nixon is the only U.S. president ever to resign his office to avoid being impeached. As is Stone's policy, he doesn't claim to be a historian; therefore, he brings his own theories to this in-depth look at one of the United States most controversial figures in history. The theatrical release of Nixon was a staggering three hours and twelve minutes, making the film and epic to watch even then. This new Election Year Edition includes twenty-eight minutes of footage that was cut from the original theatrical release, making the total running time three hours and thirty three minutes.

Running time aside, Nixon is an interesting film. Whether it's entirely accurate is undoubtedly debatable. Regardless, Stone has painted a picture of a brooding, smart, tortured man, sinking into the gloom of a White House under siege, haunted by the events of his childhood. Haunted as he was, Nixon was to proud a man to express his fears, so the few people close to him, even his wife and family, slowly pulled away from him.

Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) does an excellent job as Richard Nixon. Though he doesn't particularly look or sound like the 37th president instead, he uses his acting talents to create a deep and resounding portrait of the man, rather than a caricature. Stone's use of flashbacks, newsreels and broadcast voices take are mind off the look and sound of Hopkins, and deeper into the insecurities that clearly plagued Richard Nixon for most of his life.

In Stone's opinion, the infamous 18 1/2-minute gap on the White House tapes represents the angst the tears at Nixon's soul. It's a secret that Nixon hints at throughout the film, but is never revealed. There is an implication that a CIA operation against Cuba, started with Nixon's knowledge during the last years of the Eisenhower administration, went awry and led to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

After Nixon finds out that former CIA Cuba conspirator E. Howard Hunt (Ed Harris), was involved in the Watergate break-in, he mutters, "He's the darkness reaching out for the dark. Open up that scab, you uncover a lot of pus." On another occasion, Nixon remarks to an aide, "Whoever killed Kennedy came from this thing we created - this Beast." Of course, Nixon may have been haunted by the fact that he had somehow aided in the assignation of President Kennedy, but Stone shows that Nixon's own childhood was a source of tremendous angst. Two of his brothers died, and his Quaker parents filled him both with a sense of duty and inadequacy. His mother Hannah Nixon (Mary Steenburgen), perhaps because of the death of two of her sons, held Richard to an incredibly lofty standard. Richard himself lived by his father Frank's (Tom Bower) motto: "When you quit struggling, they've beaten you."

There's no doubt, given Stone's past history of playing fast and loose with facts, that some will discredit Nixon as utter rubbish. That would be too bad. Both the story and the acting in this film are not to be missed. Aware of his reputation, Stone opens with the disclaimer that some scenes are based on hypothesis and speculation. However, many scenes are ripped out of the history books: the Checkers speech, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore"; the summit with Mao; the bizarre midnight visit with anti-war protesters at the Lincoln Memorial, and the strange scene, reported in Woodward and Bernstein's The Final Days, in which a ruined Nixon asks Henry Kissinger to join him on his knees in prayer.

Stone has surrounded Anthony Hopkins with a list of impressive actors playing figures who have a prominent place in American history. Bob Hoskins plays the powerful, nasty J. Edgar Hoover, eating melon from the mouth of a handsome pool boy. Paul Sorvino plays Henry Kissinger, smart and helpful, but always looking out for his own self-interests. J. T. Walsh and James Woods are Ehrlichman and Haldeman, carefully monitoring the inner circle. David Hyde Pierce is John Dean, White House counsel but never quite a member of the inner circle. Powers Boothe is Alexander Haig, the White House Chief of Staff who succeeded Haldeman, and guided the president toward resignation.

The pivotal supporting performance in this film is Joan Allen as Pat Nixon. She is portrayed as both strong-willed and tired. Able to see through the many veneers of her husband, she can see he is never able to grab a hold of happiness. Consistently pushed aside and belittled, Pat is tired of being a politician's wife. Their daughters, she says, know their father only from television. Unfortunately for Pat, Richard Nixon's only identity was public life, even if it meant destroying himself.

Viewers will have to judge for themselves how much of Nixon is true; that we may never know. Regardless, Nixon is a fine film because it shows that Nixon had what it took to accomplish great things, but his inability to tell the truth was the undoing of his presidency.

This BD has several special features, which reside on their own disc. First, the disc includes two commentaries by director Oliver Stone. The first covers some of the real history behind certain scenes, as well as the usual comments about the actors and stylistic choices, all fairly informative. The second track fills in a bit more trivia but contains very long silences. The two commentaries probably would have been better if they were meshed as one. Next are ten deleted scenes totaling 58:16. Stone introduces these scenes cut from the theatrical release and puts them in the context of the film.

"Beyond Nixon" (35:19) directed by Sean Stone is a new documentary featuring interviews with some of Washington's biggest names about the film. Interviewees include: John Dean, Robert Novak, Gore Vidal and Howard Zinn, among others.

Also included is a 1995 appearance by Oliver Stone on Charlie Rose (55:09).

Specifications:
• DVD-Video
• Two-Disc Set
• Dual Layer Discs
• Region 1
Aspect Ratio:
• 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Dolby Digital Formats:
• English 5.1 Surround
DTS Digital Formats:
• None
Subtitles/Captions:
• English Closed Captions
• English Subtitles
• Spanish Subtitles
• French Subtitles