Nixon: Election Year Edition is a long movie at 213 minutes, but never seemed slow or arduous. It is the compelling story of a lemon farmer's son who came to be President of the United States of America - a man who did what he felt he had to to protect the interests of America at home and abroad, and how his insecurity in his public approval ultimately led to his resignation.
Above all, Nixon is a movie about Richard Nixon, himself; his life and times and the events that shaped who he was, his rise to the Oval Office and his downfall. Anthony Hopkins gives an impeccable performance as Richard Nixon, to the point that I didn't realize it was Hopkins until about an hour in. At some point, his expression reminded me of Hopkins from Silence of the Lambs and, at that point, I made the connection.
If the story is compelling and the acting is phenomenal, then the directing is equally creative and artistic. Throughout Nixon, there is a combination of newly filmed scenes, archival footage from the era and hybrid combinations, where Hopkins and other actors are injected into the historical clips using special effects. Occasionally these "injections" are obvious, but in general, it is difficult to tell when they are showing archival footage and when they are adding filters to new film to make it appear to be archival footage. In the more historically important and pivotal scenes, the scenes will switch between these modes, creating a sense of realism while helping to cement the characters in reality, as well.
A lot of symbolic imagery is used in Nixon: Election Year Edition, such as flames being superimposed over the scene when Bunny suggests burning the tapes or imagery that will betray what Nixon is thinking when he's saying something else. There is also an interesting little direction device that is employed when Nixon is unsettled or upset; the camera work will chop back and forth between a person talking or just standing there, while the audio continues, uninterrupted. The effect works well, imposing an unsettling feeling on the audience, much like Nixon, himself, is supposed to be experiencing.
Throughout the entire movie, Nixon refuses to give up the tapes he's recorded, eventually resigning from the Presidency. When the tapes are eventually turned over to the government, the FBI go over the tapes and spend copious amounts of time and manpower to index and catalog the tapes, but as the movie states in the end, "Out of 4000 hours of tape, only 60 hours were ever made public."
If you're interested in more information on what went into the making of the movie, then Oliver Stone's interested in talking to you for a few hours. There are two commentary tracks where Oliver Stone simply throws out interesting trivia and comments, feeling like a Pop-Up Video or Mystery Science 3000 episode, but without the "funny" factor. It seems that Oliver Stone has limitless things to share or point out about this movie. For even more Oliver Stone commentary on the movie, there's also an hour-long interview by Charlie Rose.
For more information on Nixon and his Presidency, there is a featurette called Beyond Nixon, which is a documentary that gets insights into Nixon from political commentators and White House Insiders.
The theatrical trailer is included, as well as deleted scenes, but this version features many of those scenes, accounting for the extra length.
I greatly enjoyed watching Nixon: Election Year Edition and think it provides a very interesting and educational look at one of America's most easily recognizable and yet, at the same time, most misunderstood Presidents. I think every American should see this movie once; whether you buy it, rent it or see it in history class at school. I'm not suggesting that Nixon: Election Year Edition be taken as the new "textbook," but it could be a great launching point for interesting discussions on Nixon's Presidency.
