Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to cinapse.twocents@gmail.com.
The Pick: All the President’s Men (1976)
For the rest of the year, we’re focusing on the great career of the late, great Robert Redford. In this year of great contention and struggle, celebrating some of the great American actors and filmmakers has been a solace for many of us here at Cinapse. With the recent passing of a true legend in Redford, it felt like it was only appropriate to do a deep dive into some of his great films. In fact, he was the heartbeat of so many great American films, calling a two month retrospective a “deep dive” is a false moniker. It barely scratches the surface of his almost mythological career. As we explore some films we love and films we are newly experiencing, we invite you to join us for our Redford Retrospective.
Our very own Jay Tyler chose our kick off film, but – due to his schedule and some technical difficulties that I’ll gladly take the blame for – I am pinch hitting (like Redford in The Natural) for our intro today. While I was unable to get my watch of this film done in time to contribute beyond this intro, I must admit that kicking off any series with a film about Watergate in 2025 feels very appropriate. One of the most infamous presidential scandals of all time, Watergate actually pales in comparison to an average Monday in the age of Trump. Yet, it certainly sheds some light on the political climate we are living in today. With that in mind and after reading the thoughts of our esteemed Cinapse Two Cents team, I am sold on diving into this film as soon as possible and we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, as well.
The Team
Jay Tyler
After the death of Robert Redford, both an undeniable movie star and advocate for the art of the movies, we knew we had to eulogize him for not one but two months of Two Cents.
We open with All The Presidents Men, a taut thriller that tells the shocking true story of how two journalists dug through the muck to find the biggest political scandal of all time that led to the resignation of the President. Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Woodward and Bernstein, and they immediately made journalism feel cool and hip. Over time, this testament to speaking truth to power has only grown more relevant and bracing, even in an era where it feels more like fantasy
Elizabeth Stoddard
It’s been a while since my last viewing, when my high school Government teacher made us watch this film in class. The Alan J. Pakula (Klute, Sophie’s Choice) film is strange to revisit in these times, when unethical and unconstitutional actions seem to have little if any consequences. All the President’s Men seems more dated in its depiction of investigative journalism at the Washington Post, which last year even retained more gravitas than it holds in 2025. A film about shoe leather reporting – including a newspaper budget to fly a DC reporter to Miami — appears almost fantastical now.
Be that as it may, this film with the Redford/Hoffman duo of scrappy, determined journalists is based on a screenplay by William Goldman (The Princess Bride), who won an Oscar for his adaptation. The pacing of All the President’s Men works at a slow burn, delving into the intricacies of investigative work in the analog world of 50 years ago. We see Woodward (Redford) and Bernstein (Hoffman) digging through check out slips at the Library of Congress, tearing through phone books and directories, handwriting notes from phone conversations, and knocking on doors. Sparse scoring by David Shire accompanies montages, but most of the newsroom scenes are accompanied by noises of typing and background chatting. One scene shows Woodward on a phone conversation in the foreground as far behind him a small group of Post staff crowds around a TV for a special announcement.
The 1976 film features Jason Robards in one of his best-known (and Oscar-winning) roles, as Post executive editor Ben Bradlee. His caustic humor and gritty delivery – especially in the nighttime scene with him in his robe – are some of the best aspects of the film. The pacing made the film more of a chore for this viewer in 2025, but Robards and the other supporting actors playing Post editors are the bright spots.
Ed Travis
Undeniably powerful and influential, All The President’s Men remains as gripping and full of portent as ever. And yet, watching it in 2025 has the tragic effect of rendering the picture almost quaint or cute. The film is so brimming with verisimilitude that one can’t help but apply their current political and journalistic contexts to a viewing. And baby, our current context is bleak. The heroic journalism and secretive government dealings that led to the toppling of a United States President not only can’t happen today, but we aren’t even within an aspirational distance. Today, The Washington Post is owned by oligarch Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and most every media institution has ceded the editorial freedom and journalistic integrity so brilliantly portrayed in ATPM to their corporate owners. And our administration has revolutionized government conspiracy by simply doing all their misdeeds openly and without compunction. There’s nothing a “deep throat” source can unravel when the President himself posts publicly about various ways he is actively breaking and flouting the law almost daily without consequence.
And while I couldn’t write about ATPM without voicing that screed, let’s set that aside and talk about the film itself. It remains thrilling, brilliant, and awe-filled. Dustin Hoffman and our guy Robert Redford play these wide-eyed, idealistic, and hungry young journalists who sure, live out some of the worst caricatures we have of journalists, pressuring sources and barging into peoples’ personal lives. But they’re meticulous in their practice of confirming sources, nay confirming truth. And as they practice their trade, their eyes get wider and wider at the size and scope of the story. The “procedural” element of watching feet on the street journalism play out remains gripping, not to mention the brilliant direction of Alan J. Pakula and the production design which floats around the expansive Washington Post newsroom set with grace and visual splendor. Then you’ve got the final shots. One of a TV in the foreground announcing Nixon’s second electoral win while our lonely soldiers tap away on their keyboards in the background, crafting a story that will bring that man down. And the final shot, simply focused on an analog news wire typing out the headlines and timeline tracing their story to the resignation of a president. The film sends you out with goosebumps into an America that has failed Woodward and Bernstein and is failing at democracy.
November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective
November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective
