alexgreig

An evocative snapshot of England in the 50s as seen by filmmakers but about as close to the real thing as Mrs Dale's Diary. Accents are split into regal cut glass, chirpy cockney and Farmer Giles. As it is in colour, it is redeemed somewhat by the vivid images of London and the suburbs. However, the acting and dialogue are occasionally dire. David Farrar is OK as the chief cop, although probably wishing he was in Hollywood. David Knight, token Yank, has all the charisma of a wet haddock and Julia Arnall, pretty as she is, has the acting talent of the Woodentops. The exchanges between them almost ruin the film. However, worth a viewing to spot some famous character actors and for the unravelling of the convoluted plot. And it is good to see that the police had so much resource available those days that they were able to assign a detective inspector to the child's disappearance within an hour of it happening

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.