The Assassination of Richard Nixon

Was Nixon assassinated? Nope. This movie tells us the true story of a man who tried. The main character, played by Sean Penn, is Sam Bicke. Sam Bicke is a furniture salesman. He is a moral, honest man who despises liars and dishonesty. Yes, he is in the wrong profession. At one point in the movie, he goes off on a tangent about how his boss was asking his salesmen to LIE by telling the customers that cutting 15% off the sales price was the absolute rock bottom price when in fact the markup was 30%. Scandal!!

Sam attempting to communicate with his wife Marie (played by Naomi Watts)

I was reminded over and over of the movie Falling Down. These two titles are very similar as are their main characters. The Assassination of Nixon is really about the American Dream which is, after all, a sales pitch. We see the events of Bicke's life unfold before him: He is a marginally talented salesman who is desperately trying to start his own business and to reunite with his estranged wife and children. It's obvious to the viewer that both attempts will fail, largely due to Bicke's bitterness in life. The more his life comes apart, the more resentful he becomes towards The System, the one that promised him the happy marriage, successful job, white picket fence and 2.4 kids. He gets caught in the trap of feeling that the world owes you a living, and the it's not doing its job of delivering. It doesn't help that the business he works in (or the boss he works for) is a microcosm of that false promise.

Where does Nixon fit into all of this? The story takes place in 1973, and it's interspersed with various television of Nixon's public addresses. Bicke's boss summed it up best: "You know who the world's best salesman is? Richard Nixon. In '68 he swore he'd end the war and we voted him in. What does he do? He sends more troops into Vietnam. In '72 what did he say? 'Re-elect me and I'll end the war.' And we made him president again. He made a promise, failed to deliver, promised us the same thing again and we believed him both times." In Bicke's mind, Nixon stands for dishonesty and the decline of morality and values in American life.

Assassination is not a fun or easy film to watch. Some viewers will be bored by it, as the film is heavy on character development and light on action and humor. It is the story of a man's descent into madness, bitterness and isolation. Some scenes are painful to watch such as when he gets his last big letdown in the film, we do not get a reaction of rage or fury, but the meek reaction of a man who has been defeated and cannot muster the will to lash out. Sean Penn is, as usual, outstanding. Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson turn in strong performances as well. If this sounds like your kind of movie, you'll probably enjoy it. If not, maybe not.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon recieves 3 wombats out of 4.