Adapted from the book All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
When five men are caught breaking into Democratic National headquarters at Watergate, the Washington Post assigns Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to cover the story. The two notice fairly early on that there seems to be more to this than meets the eye, especially since everyone they try to interview is extremely reluctant to talk to them, but they have no idea what they're about to uncover.
This book was originally published two months before Nixon resigned, and the movie came out two years later, so the intended audience presumably knew a lot more about Watergate than I do, as someone who was not born at the time. However, as both point out, the American public in general didn't have a lot of interest in the story while it was unfolding, so much is explained, and apart from not being very familiar with many of the people mentioned, I didn't feel like I was missing too much. Since the book was written by the actual reporters who uncovered the story, I'm assuming it was fairly accurate, if slightly biased. The movie was a relatively faithful adaptation, though it did cut out some details. For the most part, this didn't detract from the story, but I think the end suffered. The book effectively portrays the noose tightening around members of the White House staff until they are ultimately brought to trial, while the movie skips straight from, "Oops, we aimed too high and our whole investigation is set back" to "Now they're all going to jail". I would have liked to see a little more in between there. It kind of seemed like the filmmakers thought the movie was getting too long and they needed to end it.
On the other hand, I really liked how the movie shifted focus slightly away from Bernstein and Woodward toward the events themselves. The reporters are still very much the main characters, but the book starts with them finding out about the break-in, whereas the movie starts by showing the break-in itself. I appreciated the way the film added actual footage throughout, reminding the audience that yes, this truly happened. Otherwise, apart from skipping through the denouement and omitting some of the interviews and other small details, the movie is very similar to the book, and I think overall it was a good adaptation.
I have to say that it was kind of weird to read and watch this now. I often found myself wondering what the big deal was, since many of the illicit activities that Watergate exposed seem very slight compared to what the current administration is being investigated for. Also, Nixon's men were constantly accusing the Washington Post of inventing stories to make them look bad, and while they didn't exactly use the term "fake news," that was essentially what they meant. I suppose before long we're going to get some award-winning books and movies about whatever this is, and then in 40 years some young person is going to read and watch them and wonder what the big deal is compared to what's going on then. And now I'm sad.
Anyway, next up is Julia, based on the book Pentimento by Lillian Hellman
P.S. I recently updated my Best Actress and Best Picture blogs with last year's winners, so check those out if you want.
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