Former President Richard Milhous Nixon (Philip Baker Hall) is alone in his study talking into a tape recorder. He has his closed-circuit TV setup, his drinks and a gun. He talks to and about the portraits on the walls. His rants are rambling as he reflects on his life and what has happened to it.I'm not a fan of one-person plays that get transferred to the big screen. It starts from a deficit where it doesn't have the danger and the immediacy of a live show no matter who's doing it. The other problem is that this is a fictional account. It tells the audience right away that this is all fake. It's like an alternate universe and it's hard to say how much truth can be gleamed from this movie. Robert Altman can't do much more than point and shoot in this film. PBH is a great actor and I have great praises for his work. It's an interesting film to see him act but it's not much more than that. I rather have a well researched documentary about Nixon.

An adaptation of a stage play, "Secret Honor" is the tour de force performance of actor Philip Baker Hall. At the time he made it he'd had a distinguished stage career in New York but was barely known in movies and television. While he doesn't look or sound very much like Nixon he totally inhabits the character and rages around the set swilling Scotch and experiencing nearly every emotion you can think of.The story is of course totally fictional but in some respects Hall and the writers may have gotten closer to the core of who Nixon was than any other film ever did. Nixon is without a doubt the most enigmatic man ever to be President and "Secret Honor" is a fascinating study revealing what made the man tick.Even if you don't care for Nixon or political movies, this movie is worth watching for Hall's performance alone. There's never a moment in the movie, in which he's on screen every second, where he doesn't completely rivet the viewer's attention. The movie didn't make Hall a star but it started getting his name out. A young P.T. Anderson was a huge fan of the movie and later struck up a relationship with Hall which led to Hall appearing in a lot of Anderson's movies such as "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights".

If you ever get a chance to see this film, grab it! Phillip Baker Hall doesn't simply portray Nixon, he inhabits him. The familiar hunched shoulders and odd poses employed by every Nixon impersonator, in Hall's hands seem less like imitation than brilliant artistic choices, revealing the inner struggles of a remarkable, tormented man. No disrespect to Anthony Hopkins, unquestionably a very talented actor, but his Nixon doesn't hold a candle to Hall's. This is of course a work of fiction, but like the best fiction it lies in order to reveal a deeper truth. Nixon never made the tape we see him creating through the course of this film, but what is revealed through it is both psychologically and historically honest. The portrait that emerges is unsparing and sympathetic. Nixon emerges as a hero in a Greek tragedy with the same grandeur and the same tragic flaw. Fans and critics both of Richard Nixon will find their judgements challenged by this complex, revealing portrait. Even someone who has never heard of Nixon couldn't help but be fascinated by this powerful, complex man.Note to PT Anderson fans: According to Anderson, this was the performance that convinced him he had to work with Hall. It's no accident that Anderson's first full-length film, Sidney (or Hard Eight), was a showpiece for Hall's amazing talent.

(for the Laserdisc notes: aspect ratio is 4:3)It's interesting to know some background of the film. First, Secret Honor began as a stage play written by Donald Freed. Altman toured it around the country. These notes are derived form the commentary tracks on the laserdisc.The filming occurred while Altman was in residence at the University of Michigan. The set was constructed in a residence hall and video cameras were installed so that students could observe the production. Graduate students in the film program filled many of the technical positions.The play was shot on 16mm film, which was then enlarged to make 35mm release prints. Consequently, the photographic quality is rather flat. There's no denying the power and accomplishment of Philip Baker Hall's performance, however.