History Film / TheAssassinationOfRichardNixon

* FromBadToWorse: The movie consists of watching Sam's downward spiral - in the beginning, neither his job performance nor his relationship with his ex-wife and children are that great, but at least he's trying to set things right in his own rather pathetic, bumbling way. As the story progresses and his behavior becomes more desperate and erratic, he quits his job, alienates his friends and family completely, eventually snapping and carrying out an attempted act of domestic terrorism.

* TheDanza: Creator/JackThompson as Jack Jones.

* NoodleIncident: We never find out what happened between Sam and Julius while Sam worked at his brother's tire store. We hear [[UnreliableNarrator Sam rant to the loan officer about how Julius was "dishonest" for his markup on price (in reality was just standard retail practice)]], and we see Sam returning some money owed to Julius (via a mutual friend) at the beginning of the film, but we never get any further details.

--->'''Sam''': I need to get this thing rolling, if you know what I mean.
--->'''Mr. Ford''': (shaking his head with contempt): No, I don't.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Downplayed. While this is a story of a pathetic loser who goes on to plot a large-scale act of domestic terrorism, his terrorist plot fails (though Sam does [[spoiler: murder an airport security agent and the co-pilot before he's taken down by police]]).

* LoserProtagonist: Sam Bicke is an extreme, non-comedic example of what happens to a man who fails miserably at every aspect of his life.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Sam's shooting of his former family dog happens off screen, as does [[spoiler:his own suicide]] near the end of the film. Averted when he [[spoiler:shoots the two pilots, one fatally]], and when a police offcer [[spoiler:shoots Sam through the plane door]].

* LamePunReaction: When Sam hassles Mr. Ford, the loan officer, to expedite the Federal loan application for Sam's hare-brained notion of turning an old schoolbus into a mobile tire store:

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Sam's attempted hijacking goes wrong very early on, when he realizes that he failed to account for the fact that he'd be patted down and have his bag checked before getting on the plane. As a result, he [[spoiler:freaks out and shoots his way through the boarding gate, killing one of the guards in the process, and then kills the plane's co-pilot in a moment of panic, completely screwing up his plan even before a police officer mortally wounds him]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Sam's plan is to fly a plane into the White House, in a movie released only four years after September 11th. While the apparent target of the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was the Capitol Building, rather than the White House, it's still a little close to feel comfortable about.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Sam's incoherent rant as he attempts to justify stealing tires from his brother Julius. Somehow, he thinks that stealing goods from his brother's business is part of the fight against Richard Nixon and racism in America.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The film is essentially Film/TaxiDriver for a new generation.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The entire hijacking attempt ends up being one long case of this trope. Sam tries to smuggle a bomb and gun on the plane, but finds that either of them would be easily discovered. He then manages to get onto the plane, but finds that the pilots can just delay him until help arrives, resulting in him freaking out and [[spoiler:shooting one dead]], further wrecking his plans. Finally, it turns out that airport police actually ''are'' equipped with weapons capable of penetrating the hull of an aircraft, and [[spoiler:an officer shoots Sam, mortally wounding him, before Sam turns his gun on himself]].

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Sam wants nothing more than to be a dynamic, successful businessman and family man like his boss, brother, and co-workers but his Depression and Paranoia make it nearly impossible. The film shows the desire for success, what happens to those who can't achieve it and how badly it can screw them up.

** Played with. Sam was one, at least on the surface, at the start of film until a series of failures send him into a downward spiral, socially, financially, and psychologically. Whether this is the tragic plight of an idealist or the inevitable outcome of a naive, inept, and shady man who is the author of his own misfortunes is up to the viewer.

* NeverMyFault: Sam blames the bank for denying his loan on the grounds of racism. That may be true but it doesn't change just how unreliable and unstable Sam is and comes across.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Actually more like 50% based on a true story. Much of Sam's backstory is tweaked and altered from that of the real Samuel Byck -- Byck had four children while Sam only has two in the film; Sam's loan fiasco is implied to happen only a few weeks before the assassination attempt, while Byck's failure to secure a loan happened in 1972, two years beforehand; he ''threatened'' to assassinate Nixon shortly after his re-election, but didn't actually go through with it until much later -- but the overall storyline is much the same as the real-life events, and everything that happens at the airport in the last 15 minutes or so is entirely the same as what happened in reality.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Zig-zagged. Sam's early efforts at the furniture store, as bizarre as they come across to both the customers and his co-workers, actually prove endearing enough to succeed. Longer-term, however, they result in him being by far the worst salesman at the store.

* HopeSpot: While the outcome of the film is a ForegoneConclusion, the first few scenes of the movie suggest that Sam is actually getting his life somewhat on track with his new job.

* VillainHasAPoint: hough obviously he's completely off his rocker by this point, it's hard to disagree with the points that Sam makes about how Nixon succeeded despite clearly being a crook and not delivering on his promises (bear in mind that the Watergate scandal was only in its infancy during the film), and how it often just doesn't pay to be an average, honest person.

** Sam's business proposal at the loan office is one long train of insanity as well - he proposes selling goods at cost as something that will "revolutionize how business is done in America."
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** Though obviously he's completely off his rocker by this point, it's hard to disagree with the points that Sam makes about how Nixon succeeded despite clearly being a crook and not delivering on his promises (bear in mind that the Watergate scandal was only in its infancy during the film), and how it often just doesn't pay to be an average, honest person.
** Although Jack (Sam's boss) comes across as a condescending bully, one could very well understand how Sam's behavior and job performance would frustrate even the most tolerant and well-intentioned boss.

* LamePunReaction: When Sam hassles Mr. Ford, the loan officer, to expedite the Federal loan application for Sam's hare-brained mobile tire business proposal:

* LamePunReaction: When Sam hassles Mr. Ford, the loan officer, to expedite the business loan application for Sam's hare-brained mobile tire business proposal:

--->'''Sam''': I need to get this rolling, if you know what I mean.