By Jason O'Brien jaobrien@charter.net
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Stone's political drama NIXON is the controversial epic story of our 37th President, Richard Nixon - his life, his presidency, and the scandal that brought him down. Stone actually takes a somewhat sympathetic view toward Nixon, trying desperately to show the motivations and the life experiences which shaped the man who eventually resigned from office because the Watergate scandal broke apart. Stone continues his brand of filmmaking, delivering a film of rare power and emotion. 
Of course, people are coming out complaining that Stone has rewritten history - at the beginning of the film, Stone even states that the film is based on an incomplete historical record - in an annotated screenplay book released before the film came out, Stone documents all of the sources which back up almost everything presented in the film. The film as a motion picture is something of a unique emotional power - with this film, Stone almost completes a circle of different films he has made concerning the turbulent 60's and 70's, and the secret history of those times. In Nixon, we revisit old Stone territory, including Vietnam and the JFK assassination. Stone wisely decided to make a film about Nixon the man, showing his roots, the death of his two brothers, his rise to political power, his political losses, Nixon's achievements with China and the Soviet Union, and of course Watergate. Stone covers it all in a format which jumps back and forth through time to show us a composite of influences and life events which led to what happened in 1972 and the two years following. The thing that impressed me the most about this film, alongside Stone's superb direction and storytelling technique, is Anthony Hopkin's performance - it's one of such power that we soon ignore that Hopkins doesn't look or sound like Nixon, and delve deep into the man himself. The three hour plus running time allows us to look deep into that tortured soul of not only Nixon, but once again, the American government and the beast, that unknown uncontrollable part of America which secretly controlled what happened in the 60's and 70's. There are so many scenes which cement themselves in your mind - Nixon at the Lincoln Memorial talking to a group of Vietnam protestors about the war they oppose so much - it was so interesting to see political power right alongside the idealism of the youth of that time. The most stunning scenes come at the end of the film, when Nixon in the White House, decides to resign the Presidency.
A word about the missing footage from NIXON: My thought after seeing the additional 20 minutes of footage, as is so often the case when we see director's cut releases on video and laserdisc, is why the Hollywood system continues to stifle directors and insist that movies come in at a certain length. There are people out there who would sit through a four hour and 15 minute version of NIXON because they know what a good movie really is - unlike the other movie goers who think nothing of plunking down seven or eight dollars to see Jim Carrey make an idiot of himself on screen and don't see such a truly powerful and important film such as NIXON. I've heard that Stone will have more difficulty making politically themed films like NIXON from now on because of the poor box office returns, which is really very sad. NIXON was such an incredibly powerful, emotional tragedy, in the tradition of Shakespeare. And I also have to again trumpet Hopkins' performance as Nixon - after seeing it again on video, I am still astonished at that performance - I have never seen a better performance from an actor in recent years - just watch Hopkins toward the end of the film as he nears disaster - and prays to God wondering why they hate him so much. An incredibly portrayal, an incredible film. 
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He first prays with Henry Kissinger in what is at first an awkward looking scene, but then Nixon crys out - Why do they hate me so much? He walks out of his office to see the portraits of other Presidents that had come before him - and that's ultimately the theme that haunted me the most after seeing the film. I really saw a Nixon who constantly compared himself to Kennedy and Lincoln, who were so loved, and he was a man so hated and detested most of his political life, making him such a tragic figure - it's an incredible portrait of a very complicated man.