This quiet, powerful movie is loosely based on the real events. Samuel Bicke, meek and obedient person with the intense hidden anger, is slowly unraveling. His marriage is dissolving, he hates his job and his obnoxious boss, the bank loan for starting a new business is rejected. Typical story of a man without his place in this world. God knows, there are hundreds of millions of people like him on this unfortunate planet. But, something made this man stand apart and try to kill the president Nixon. The attempt itself would be called inane if innocent people weren't killed.The tragic ending to a sad life story. This intense movie uses a perfect language to tell this story, so pertinent to the times we live in.More and more lost souls, and the future looks far away from rosy. Millions of question and none of the answers.

Or not convincing enough. This story of a man unadapted in several chapters of his life (his wife parts company with him, he loses his job and doesn't succeed in getting a financing for a business he is planning to set up with a black partner, everything turning him a loser according to American patterns) lacks some depth. Our man, due to all these misfortunes, plunges himself gradually in some sort of madness, behaving awkwardly and getting convinced that he is a victim of the system against which he must rebel. Possibly he had already an innate propensity to some sort of derangement shown in his facial tics and awkward attitudes. Everything that happens to him comes from his psychological unadaptation to society and the world and aggravates it on and on in a vicious circle. His revolt finishes by leading him to plan the assassination of President Nixon (whom he sees repeatedly involved in the consequences of the Watergate scandal while watching TV news) by deviating a plane and forcing it to hit the White House. Meanwhile he dictates to a tape recorder some kind of testament addressed to the composer Leonard Bernstein whom he admires very much and where he relates his troubles and what he intends to do. How all this ends up you will see if you are going to watch this movie. The problem with this movie is that in terms of message it is rather unimportant since it isn't because a lunatic decides to kill the President of United States that it means that world and society are wrong or that it will solve any problem. This is not then a political movie or one based on social criticism but just only an individual story played by a Sean Penn full of psychological awkward attitudes showing that we are from the beginning not before some kind of a social or political rebel with a a true cause but in the presence of an unadapted lunatic. This doesn't mean of course that the system that he wants to combat is just and correct but it isn't a madman's attitude that will prove its injustice. Finally this is a movie that can be watched because it's not exactly bad but it's also far from being good.

Being a huge fan of Sean Penn's performances ('Milk', 'Mystic River' etc) and more specifically '21 Grams' starring Penn and Naomi Watts I picked this film up with high expectations purely on the premise of Penn and Watts reunited on screen, needless to say, it does not disappoint! The film has the rare accolade of being set several decades earlier (1974) in the middle of the Nixon regime, yet still containing themes that are just as relevant in 2010; Racism, Power Struggles, Terrorism (particularly post 9/11, although ironically the film was being scripted before this).Focusing on 'average-Joe' salesman Samuel Bicke (Penn) the film focuses on one man's despairing breakdown as he searches for 'a little piece of the American dream'. Bicke goes through a series of jobs and is a failing salesman due to his strong morals in equality and honesty.The cinematography is fantastic, as Bicke becomes more and more disillusioned the camera shows an increasing number of extreme close ups, serving to highlight the mental disintegration Bicke is going through. The score throughout is also chilling and works seamlessly with the mannerisms of Bicke against the backdrop of several close ups of President Nixon on the TV representing everything Bicke has come to hate. The editing is also superbly paced, speeding up as Bicke becomes more and more despondent with the world around him and we reach the harrowing final scene.It is a testament to the incredible talent of Penn that whilst his characters actions would stereotype him as a traditional villain you are left feeling nothing but empathy for Bicke and will be questioning your own notions of morality long after the credits role, even more so with the irony that such is Bicke's desire to support his family that he is dishonest on more than one occasion in his desire to provide for those closest to him. Naomi Watts is equally brilliant as his ex wife and as usual Don Cheadle is superb as a friend, 'a grain of sand' as Bicke would say who accepts the world for what it is. There is also a fantastic performance by Bicke's boss, Jack Thompson.If you are a fan of thought provoking cinema then 'The Assassination Of Richard Nixon' is an absolute must see. Having only seen this film recently and on the back of watching both '21 Grams' and 'Milk' (of which Penn is simply superb in both) I don't believe it is to presumptuous to go as far as asking where Penn may be the greatest actor of his generation? This is definitely a film to watch again and again, and yet each time you do it raises more questions. The film has been a likened to 'Taxi Driver', released in the same period as Nixon is set and much like the success of that film I can see this one being just as highly thought of thirty years from now.

Wow is all I have to say, the performance of Sean Penn was heartbreakingly spotless. It resembled Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver as so with this film, you see Sean Penns character lose his mind slowly but surely. The vulnerability that Sean Penn puts towards the screen is amazingly engaging, Michael Wincott is equally amazing as Sean Penns devout Jewish brother. The relationship established is hard to watch in a good way, especially in a particular conversation between them. Namoi Watts is also good but nothing memorable. It was nice to see Sean and Naomi work together again, straight after '21 Grams'. Niels Muellers direction was amazing for a 'virgin director' (First-Time Director). The way in which he encapsulated Samual J. Bickes life and portrayed its sensitive aspects is simply divine. This is probably one of Sean Penns best if not the best performance ever, so If you are a "Penn" Fan as I am, do yourself a favor and become totally mentally involved and you will feel the pain that Sean Penn goes through as Samuel J. Bicke. Sean Penn, as it would be agreed, is the best actor of this generation and in my opinion will go on to do amazing things in the coming future. The only other actors that you can remotely compare him to are Daniel Day-Lewis and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. These men are in there own league but Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Ben Kingsley are just below them, in my opinion. Excellent p.s The most underrated performance ever...