- If All the President's Men is to be believed, crack reporters really have it rough. In the office, the fictionalized versions of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) are always hustling around, trying to reach unreachable people by phone while a legion of grey-haired men (Jason Robards, Jack Warden, and Martin Balsam) decide which stories get ink and which get buried. Out of the office, the two reporters spend their evenings visiting "neat little houses" on "nice little streets" where they interview plenty of bad liars and seeming paranoiacs (Meredith Baxter, Stephen Collins, Jane Alexander). On occasion, they even jet across the country to confront lawyers, sleazy (Robert Walden) and reluctant (Ned Beatty) alike. A glimpse of Woodward's apartment, buried in a jumble of papers and pizza boxes, is a clear testament to their lifestyles. And then there's the strange machinations of an anonymous source known only as "Deep Throat" (Hal Holbrook).
- The mysterious Deep Throat seems to have settled on the most clandestine and creepy cloak-and-dagger way of communicating information that anyone could ever imagine. Insisting on meeting in a positively Hadean parking garage late at night, the anonymous informant surrounds himself in shadows and smoke, both figuratively and literally. It's obvious that Deep Throat knows precisely who was behind the Watergate break-in and what implications that information has, but his two favorite answers to Woodward are "figure that out on your own" and "that's all I can tell you." When he finally does open up, it's primarily to inform the two reporters that their lives may be in danger. Slowly, Woodward and Bernstein realize that Watergate is only the tip of the iceberg, but how to convince the world of a conspiracy that nobody is willing to discuss?
- Perhaps it's no great surprise that a film about the U.S. government's most infamous conspiracy was very popular, but it is always a pleasant surprise when a film that was so popular is also very good. What impresses the most in All the President's Men is the entire production's obvious dedication to realism. From the frequent tracking shots through a very authentic-looking newsroom to the difficulty of hearing testimony in a courtroom to Woodward's frequent misspeaks, the sets, sounds, script, and acting are all as believable as can be. It also helps that the inimitable villains of the piece are allowed to speak for themselves through archival television broadcasts. All of that said, the film's greatest (and most imitated) scenes are those rather surreal encounters with the very memorably portrayed Deep Throat. If there is any doubt left in your mind that Woodward and Bernstein were heroes, just imagine the courage it must have taken to walk into that garage to meet that guy late at night.
