Nixon (film)
Nixon is a 1995 American epic historical drama film directed by Oliver Stone, produced by Clayton Townsend, Stone, and Andrew G. Vajna. The film was written by Stone, Christopher Wilkinson, and Stephen J. Rievele, with significant contributions from "project consultants" Christopher Scheer and Robert Scheer. The film tells the story of the political and personal life of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins.
Nixon
Stephen J. Rivele
Christopher Wilkinson
Oliver Stone
Clayton Townsend
Oliver Stone
Andrew G. Vajna
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (North America/South America)
Cinergi Productions (International)
- December 22, 1995
192 minutes[1]
United States
English
Chinese
Russian
$44 million[2]
$13.7 million (US/Canada)[2]
The film portrays Nixon as a complex and, in many respects, admirable, though deeply flawed, person. Nixon begins with a disclaimer that the film is "an attempt to understand the truth [...] based on numerous public sources and on an incomplete historical record."
The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Annabeth Gish, Marley Shelton, Bai Ling, Powers Boothe, J. T. Walsh, E. G. Marshall, James Woods, Paul Sorvino, Bob Hoskins, Larry Hagman, Ed Harris and David Hyde Pierce, plus archival appearances from political figures such as President Bill Clinton in television footage from the Nixon funeral service.
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics, with Hopkins' performance receiving particular praise. Despite this, the film grossed just $13.7 million worldwide against a $44 million budget, making it one of the year's biggest box-office bombs as well as Stone's lowest-grossing presidential biopic to date. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Supporting Actress (Joan Allen), Best Original Score (John Williams) and Best Original Screenplay.
This was Stone's second of three films about the American presidency, made four years after JFK, about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and followed 13 years later by W., about George W. Bush.
Plot[edit]
In 1972, the White House Plumbers break into The Watergate and are subsequently arrested.
Eighteen months later in December 1973, Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, brings Nixon audio tapes for Nixon to listen to. The two men discuss the Watergate scandal and the resulting chaos. After discussing the death of J. Edgar Hoover, Nixon uses profanity when discussing John Dean, James McCord, and others involved in Watergate. As Haig turns to leave, Nixon asks Haig why he has not been given a pistol to commit suicide like an honorable soldier.
A majority of the movie is told through flashbacks of Nixon's tapes.
Nixon starts the taping system, which triggers memories that begin a series of flashbacks within the film. The first begins on June 23, 1972, about one week after the break-in, during a meeting with H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dean. Ehrlichman and Dean leave, and Nixon speaks the "smoking gun" tape to Haldeman.
Henry Kissinger plays a major role in the film, beginning as a respected professor and later as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State. Throughout the film, there is a battle with Nixon and his staff over who Kissinger actually is—is he a leaker who only cares about his reputation in the press, or is he a loyal subject who follows the president's orders? Although many cabinet members blame Kissinger for the leaks, Nixon cannot turn his back on him.
While at the height of his political career, Nixon thinks back to childhood and how his parents raised him and his brothers. Two of his brothers died of tuberculosis at a young age and this deeply impacted the president.
The film covers most aspects of Nixon's life and political career and implies that he and his wife abused alcohol and prescription medications. Nixon's health problems, including his bout of phlebitis and pneumonia during the Watergate crisis, are also shown; his heavy use of medications is sometimes attributed to these.
The film also hints at some kind of responsibility, real or imagined, that Nixon felt towards the John F. Kennedy assassination through references to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the implication being that the mechanisms set into place for the invasion by Nixon during his term as Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president spiraled out of control to culminate in Kennedy's assassination and, eventually, Watergate.
The film ends with Nixon's resignation and departure from the lawn of the White House on the helicopter, Marine One. Real-life footage of Nixon's state funeral in Yorba Linda, California plays out over the extended end credits, and all living ex-presidents at the time—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush—as well then-president Bill Clinton, are shown in attendance.
Nixon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Production[edit]
Origins[edit]
Eric Hamburg, former speechwriter and staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, got the idea of a film about Nixon after having dinner with Oliver Stone.[3] Originally, Oliver Stone had been developing two projects – the musical Evita and a movie about Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. When neither was made, Stone turned his attention to a biopic about Richard Nixon.[6] The former President's death on April 22, 1994, was also a key factor in Stone's decision to make a Nixon film. He pitched the film to Warner Bros., but, according to the director, they saw it, "as a bunch of unattractive older white men sitting around in suits, with a lot of dialogue and not enough action".[6]
In 1993, Hamburg mentioned the idea of a Nixon film to writer Stephen J. Rivele with the concept being that they would incorporate all of the politician's misdeeds, both known and speculative.[3] Rivele liked the idea and had previously thought about writing a play exploring the same themes. Hamburg encouraged Rivele to write a film instead and with his screenwriting partner, Christopher Wilkinson, they wrote a treatment in November 1993.[3] They conceived of a concept referred to as "the Beast", which Wilkinson describes as "a headless monster that lurches through postwar history," a metaphor for a system of dark forces that resulted in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, and helped Nixon's rise to power and his fall from it as well.[7] Stone said in an interview that Nixon realizes that "the Beast" "is more powerful than he is. We can't get into it that much, but we hint at it so many times—the military-industrial complex, the forces of money".[8] In another interview, the director elaborates,
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes Nixon has a 75% approval rating, based reviews from 63 critics, with an average score of 6.8/10. The site's consensus states: "Much like its subject's time in office, Nixon might have ended sooner—but what remains is an engrossing, well-acted look at the rise and fall of a fascinating political figure."[19] Metacritic gave the film a score of 66 based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A+ to F.[21]
Home media[edit]
The theatrical cut of the film was released on DVD on June 15, 1999.[36] A director's cut was released on DVD as part of an Oliver Stone boxset in 2001, running 212 mins and including 28 minutes of previously deleted scenes restored. Much of the added time consists of two scenes: one in which Nixon meets with Central Intelligence Agency director Richard Helms (played by Sam Waterston) and another on Tricia Nixon's wedding day, where J. Edgar Hoover persuades Nixon to install the taping system in the Oval Office. The Director's Cut was released individually on DVD in 2002.[37] The Director's Cut was re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (branded as Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment) on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on August 19, 2008, with the first anamorphic widescreen version of the film in North America.