Oliver Stone presents Nixon in a positive, sympathetic light. Nixon is seen as the conditioned victim of his family circumstances and rigorous upbringing. Behind all his actions as a grown man, you are encouraged to see a hurt and bewildered small boy. In spite of this, he personifies dogged determination.Oliver Stone's judgement was seriously inspired when he cast Nixon. If I thought long and hard, I could probably not come up with a better choice than Anthony Hopkins, one of the greatest actors of this age. Richard Nixon and Anthony Hopkins share an approximate similarity of appearance, but where Hopkins scores is in his mastery of articulation and verbal timing. Not long into the movie Hopkins acquires the persona of Nixon, without specifically imitating him.Anthony Hopkins was so good, I watched the film several times. I believe Stone rejected a motley group of several other contenders for the role, before wisely settling on Hopkins as his ideal. He must have been exceptionally pleased with the result.Stone includes memories from Nixon's childhood up through and past the Watergate scandal. Clearly, numerous film actors wanted to be in this movie, for obvious reasons. It's an outstanding production, and anyone who watches it will be given an unusually fine history lesson. It stays in the mind. I strongly recommend it: give it a close watch ! It's a bit long, so I dock one star.

I saw this movie many times and the first thing i can say is: a Remarkable Achievement.Unlike others, i have no problem with 3 hours movies. The movie is not long: what is told in the film needs 192 minutes. That's all.The plot is complex, with a lot of information: names, dates, events, Watergate Scandal, Chappaquiddick Incident, Bahia Pigs, Vietnam War, Missile Cuban Crisis...all was connected.So would be better having some knowledge of this turbulent era in order to comprehend how and why things happened.The film also portrays the interesting fact of how politics works from within: the control of big companies, big money, power, betrayal, blackmail. The supporting cast is excellent, the same as and Anthony Hopkins performance. John Williams soundtrack and Robert Richardson's photography are also outstanding.9/10

This movie blew me away. I have always liked Nixon; he had the same brusque manner of so many men born in the 1910-1920 period. Let's face it, the biggest US stories of the 20th century were the Depression, WWII, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam and the changes of US culture in the 60's and 70's and he was smack dab in the middle of all of them. I thought Anthony Hopkins looked and sounded like Nixon..his farewell speech ("my mother was a Saint") which I love is so deep and profound and Hopkins knocks it out of the park. The very clever "News of the World" 5 minute political eulogy of 1962 "you wont have Nixon to kick around" summarizes his whole life to that point and the photo shopping of Hopkins into Nixon newsreel tells the whole story of 1946-60 in just a few minutes..a great way to tell the backstory . Oliver Stone must have a great deal of respect for Nixon as this is a very balanced film. Sorvino nailed Kissinger, and Powers Boothe was a good Haig. E.G.Marshall and Madeline Kahn(John/Martha Mitchell) were entertaining , and Ed Hermann as "Rocky" NY Governor was good too. These were very complicated times..Nixon grew up around horses and almost lived to the 21st century and it was all covered. The scene with Mao..maybe the most underrated event of the 20th century, was extremely well done and the gravitas filled the screen. It is now in my top 5 movies of all time..By the way, the music was outstanding(John Williams nominated for AA) and the ending credits are extremely moving. A great movie.

Without doubt Anthony Hopkins performance as Richard Nixon cements his position as one of the finest and most powerful actors of the last 20 years. Without bearing any great resemblance, he gets closer to inhabiting the almost impenetrable enigma that was Nixon than any other actor could do. Looking beyond his towering portrayal, the performances of the supporting cast are mostly exemplary. You just know that James Woods and JT Walsh were born to play Haldeman and Ehrlichman. Ed Harris is a chilling Howard Hunt, Mary Steenburgen a dedicated but controlled and ultimately unaffectionate mother, Powers Boothe a loyal but pragmatic Al Haig, Bob Hoskins a thoroughly devious J Edgar Hoover and Madeleine Kahn a delightfully outspoken Martha Mitchell. If I had to quibble I would say that Joan Allen makes Pat Nixon a far steelier character than she probably was and EG Marshall is too old to play John Mitchell. Oliver Stone does not play too fast and loose with the real story and endeavours to explore Nixon's childhood and other events in his life to try to explain what what made him what he became. Occasionally he is more sympathetic than one might have expected. The use of black and white is overdone, although real footage is skilfully interlaced with the acting. But the ultimate triumph is Hopkins' performance.