A film chronicling the investigation into the Watergate scandal, the cover-up which led to the only resignation of a U.S. President.

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Familiar with the history, but not with the many intricacies of the investigation, I found the film to be a thrilling account of one of our nation’s biggest scandals. Robert Redford (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting“)  as Robert “Bob” Woodward and Dustin Hoffman (“Rain Man,” Tootsie”) as Carl Bernstein were a dynamic acting duo.  Both actors did an exceptional job capturing the mundanities of investigative journalism, like a lead falling flat or negotiating with an uncooperative source. The power dynamic between the two journalists, with Woodward being more junior to Bernstein at The Washington Post, added to the thrill of following the case as it built.  There was a scene where the two characters bickered about how to corraborate information from witnesses that was playful and yet another intriguing look at the impromptu critical-thinking that could happen during these types of investigations.

I applaud the director, Alan J. Pakula, for this amazing piece of art–a well-shot political thriller. The claustrophobic close-ups while Woodward was on the phone trying to piece together details from sources gives the audience a great sense of the anxiety and pushed through the screen.

In another shot, Pakula deliberately used the bars from a witness’s home staircase as a physical and metaphorical communication barrier while interacting with Bernstein who sought her out to corroborate information about a money trail.  She eventually emerges from behind the bars, from the shadows, into a well-lit room where Bernstein gently interrogates her. She’s tepid, and it immediately reminded me of the old-school, film noir-styled interrogations where detectives would point harsh lighting at a witness with hopes they’d get the answers they sought, sometime leading to witness intimidation.

Little technical things that I thought were beautifully shot:
Scribbling of notes.
Frustrations of no leads.
Understanding how to actively listen.
Asking the right follow-up questions.

Favorite scene: Woodward takes two cabs across Washington D.C., in an effort to avoid a tail, to meet with his confidential FBI informant, “Deep Throat.” As the cab drives towards the White House, Woodward seems to duck down in fear.  An interesting visual—he hid as if the architecture representing the office he was investigating was somehow “on to him.”

Everything about “Deep Throat” was brilliant—quite possibly my favorite character in this film. He risked his position at arguably one of the most respected agencies in the country to ‘blow the whistle’ on corruption and obstruction of justice in the highest office in the land. While the cinematic version of “Deep Throat” was probably shot in this hyberbolic, low-light, shadowy frame for drama’s sake, I appreciated his demeanor and posture opposite Woodward’s. I felt the actors conveyed the great risk of their meetings and in those moments, Woodward’s tension of “well D.T., are you helping or not, bruh?” kept me on edge. “Deep Throat” seemed to be more about corroborating leads as facts than about spilling the beans from his agency, and I wonder if this was actually his position in real life.

In all, epic film, and certainly drives home that our freedoms of press and speech are rights protected by our Constitution and that no one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law. History is cyclical, and art like this helps the masses understand why we need to pay more attention to what’s happening in our country and internationally.