The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)

Comparisons of The Assassination of Richard Nixon to Taxi Driver (1976) are justified and inevitable. Both concern a man who is a bit of an outcast, both with an acute awareness of politics and the persons whom they consider fellow outcasts, both trying to make their place in the world, both continually being knocked down from the attempt, and both eventually cracking and taking similarly drastic measures against an abstraction of those they feel have wronged them. There are also equally fine performances from great actors, there is equally unique artistry in the technical elements, and both successfully stress an atmosphere of "low class grit".But while Taxi Driver is also a masterpiece and will long be one of the cinematic benchmarks of its era, The Assassination of Richard Nixon has a number of important differences that make it clear that it's not a "rip-off". For one, it is based on a thinly veiled true story, where the major "plot" events are very close to the film.More importantly, Bicke, although he has problems, does not see himself initially as belonging to or being obsessed with a subculture. He's relatively normal, and his desires in the film are all about correcting his "forced" deviations from normality. In a nutshell, Bicke is a guy with low self-esteem/a lack of self-confidence who keeps getting the raw end of the deal (at least in his mind)
Sean Penn is probably one of the highest praised and consistently well-reviewed actors of his generation, and his performance in this film illustrates why. Penn's elegiac performance is delicately nuanced and precisely wrought. He's a man I'm used to seeing as well, a man's man, and to see him timid and frustrated, swallowing so much emotion in ever bigger chunks...it was remarkable to watch, his performance a credit to director Niels Mueller as well.
The intelligent writing, well-timed and rich score, and supportive performances by Naomi Watts, Jack Thompson and Don Cheadle blend perfectly in this marvelously crafted feature transporting the viewer into the lives and era of the exquisitely human characters who are so elegantly portrayed.
First-time feature director Niels Mueller achieves a subtle unbalancing through the artful, regular use of hand-held cameras. The hand-held work doesn't dominate so much as to become distracting, but it's just "shaky" enough to add to the sense of unease. Also unusual is Mueller's approach to montages. There are a number of sequences with increasingly fast cuts that are perfectly constructed to suggest time passing, monotony, frustration, impatience and so on. Mueller always gives us just the right amount of information, always leaves each shot on screen for the exact right length of time.
3.5/5