Moviecut—Secret Honor

Secret Honor

The best film ever made on Nixon, or any president. A film which is an entire monologue by Philip Baker Hall, one of the best character actors of our time. While, like Anthony Hopkins, he doesn't LOOK like Nixon, his performance helps you look beyond it. As he staggers around the oval office, cursing his enemies and talking to ghosts, staring into his monitors, you get the resonance of the real Nixon, and you even begin to feel sorry for him. It opens the myth of Nixon wide to reveal a man beneath the icon, and is a simultaneously thrilling and dramatic film. Altman's film has been out of print for at least a decade, but it far surpasses Oliver Stone's film and is worth watching for anyone who ever wanted to appreciate Nixon as anything other than a monster.

Not to say too much about Secret Honor: just know that it is an amazingly written monologue with amazing acting by Philip Baker Hall and amazing direction by Robert Altman. One might accuse Hall of overacting, but you should remember that this is stage acting. It's exaggerated, but that's the way stage acting works. Of course, Richard Nixon was pretty damn insane, so maybe this isn't overacting at all! The writing builds a lot of pathos for Nixon, which you wouldn't expect, while not letting him off any hook. And the ending kicks a lot of ass. F*ck 'em!!! The third best Altman film I've seen, after Nashville and 3 Women. 10/10. P.S. - It was a bit difficult to understand, since I am not 100% familiar with Nixon and the era. If you don't know anything about this stuff, just avoid it.

(for the Laserdisc notes: aspect ratio is 4:3) It's interesting to know some background of the film. First, Secret Honor began as a stage play written by Donald Freed. Altman toured it around the country. These notes are derived form the commentary tracks on the laserdisc. The filming occurred while Altman was in residence at the University of Michigan. The set was constructed in a residence hall and video cameras were installed so that students could observe the production. Graduate students in the film program filled many of the technical positions. The play was shot on 16mm film, which was then enlarged to make 35mm release prints. Consequently, the photographic quality is rather flat. There's no denying the power and accomplishment of Philip Baker Hall's performance, however.

Made 11 years before Oliver Stone's "Nixon", with Anthony Hopkins, Robert Altman's direction of Philip Baker Hall in his gritty portrayal of Richard Millhouse on his last night in the Whitehouse, rehashing out all his problems over a bottle of scotch. Fumbling and bumbling around the office with tape machines and casting vague hints into the real motives and players behind the whole debacle. A very watchable and interesting film for anyone interested in Nixon/Watergate. A better film than Oliver Stone's version in spite of a much smaller budget.

SECRET HONOR should be seen by everybody with an interest in Richard Nixon. It may not be what he was really like, but it is a weird and unforgettable portrait of this man. Philip Baker Hall delivers one of the best screen performances I can ever remember in this one man movie. The movie takes place on the day before Richard Nixon is going to resign, and sits around drinking scotch and yelling into a tape recorder about everything in his political life. He blames Castro, Kissinger and anyone named Kennedy for all the problems in his life- while never accepting resposibilty for any of it himself. He's a man entrenched in denial. The movie utlimately makes Nixon look like an idiot- a man who has no idea what he was doing. This is one of Robert Altman's best films- an utterly amazing film.

A great film, if you can find it. I first saw it nearly ten years ago, and it still is fresh in my memory. This is a one man show (Hall is the only actor in the film) and an adaptation of a stage performance. The simple premise: Several years on from his disgrace, Nixon is in San Clemente and sits down with a bottle of Chivas and his old friend, the tape recorder, to spill his guts before he commits suicide. Hall is captivating in the role and his descent into drunken madness is a masterful performance. One of Altman's best. A bit of a history lesson, but one that is more interested in theater than in truth. Still, great theater reveals its own truths and there is plenty here to chew on.

A fictionalized former President Richard M. Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation. This comes down to one thing: an examination of the acting skills of Philip Baker Hall. Since the direction is so limited, it really cannot say anything good or bad about Robert Altman (who had already made his name by this point). Hall's Nixon is something of a madman. He fluctuates through every range of emotion within 90 minutes, at times flipping between anger and suicidal tendencies. What a wild ride. Of course, the film is clearly marked as fiction... so we should not assume this person was in any way related to the real Nixon.