18½

The movie has a fascinating premise: a lowly Washington stenographer in the early 1970s comes across a tape of Richard Nixon and his henchmen listening to the missing 18 and a half minutes from the "Nixon Tapes." Problem is, the filmmaker does all he can to avoid telling the story. The movie is a strange period piece, a vehicle for showing off retro fashions and furnishings. Great attention to detail in those departments, but the story was utterly neglected. The actor playing Richard Nixon doesn't even sound like him.

It's 1974. White House transcriptionist -- someone who takes recordings and converts them into written records -- Willa Fitzgerald has the missing tape recording of Nixon that everyone is hot for. She meets up with reporter John Magaro and they go to a motel in Maryland to listen to the tapes, but his reel-to-reel player is broken. However, Vondie Curtis-Hall and Catherine Curtain at the cabin next to theirs have been listening to a tape of bossa nova non-stop.

It plays more like an extended anecdote than a story, so it's good they have some talent in place that can play it for comedy, like Richard Kind as the one-eyed motel owner, and Alexander Woodbury as a fisherman.

It's certainly an entertaining satire, if not particularly deep. Still, who knew that Bruce Campbell could do such a good Nixon impersonation?

This is not a documentary nor an accurate history of events but a humorous send-up of the scandal itself. The story itself is a funny-mirror reflection of the (not so) mysterious tape erasure.

Meandering away from Watergate, most of the film explores and revels in eccentric characters and their interactions. Subtle humor and satire abound if you pay attention and let down your hair: conspiracy theories involving Wonder Bread and ITT; Bossa nova music; broken tape machines; mysterious fishermen; one-eyed desk clerks.

Smatterings of the missing 18½ minute recording are revealed and they are nothing more than what we expect although amplified through a filter of ridiculousness and cartoonish caricatures. It really helps to be a student of Watergate and recognize the various characters like Mark Felt (who is referenced hilariously), H. R. Haldeman, Al Haig and Rosemary Woods in order to "get" all the jokes.

This film is an unexpected surprise. Wry, intelligent humor, a brisk pace and wonderful characters make for winning combination. Worth a second viewing to catch all those subtle cues and clues. Bravo, Mr. Mirvish.

It is in the heat of the Watergate scandal and everybody is commenting on the missing tape controversy. Connie (Willa Fitzgerald) is a lowly government stenographer. She had stolen a tape that she was transcribing. On the tape, it has the President discussing erasing the tape as well as other shocking revelations. She has recruited reporter Paul Marrow (John Magaro) to listen to the tape before returning it after the weekend.

This movie wants the audience to look at all the other guests and Jack with suspicion. It wants to be a mystery, but there is really only one solution that makes sense. I guess it could be all coincidences and that's not fun. It becomes a game of waiting until the movie does the reveal. At least, the reveal is fine, but the waiting is not.

The premise sounded interesting, "what if...??" Started slow, had some really unnecessary characters, probably just to fill time. I was annoyed and grossed out by the whole bossa nova - dinner scene & had to fast-forward through most of it. Blechhh! Surely the writer could have come up with a better way to insert these characters into the storyline? Ugh. So I got to the end, and I was even madder. I had to rewind because another reviewer mentioned the play/record button. I was then able to listen to the "recording" and ignore the fight scene, then the ending made slightly more sense, but still.....soooo many plot holes. I'm pi$$ed off and feel cheated out an ending that would have worked. The wonderbread arc was totally ridiculous. I really wish I hadn't seen this. Can't recommend it. Skip it. I promise, you're going to wish you had if you watch it anyway. Don't say you weren't warned.