History Film / Nixon

** Nixons closed-door meeting with [[MaoZedong Mao]] has shades of this. Mao is clearly depressed about his legacy and flat out bored with political life. He's more interested in asking why [[KavorkaMan Kissinger is such a ladies man.]]

* ClusterFBomb: Nixon is constantly dropping this. This is TruthInTelevision; Nixon was reportedly rather foul-mouthed in private and evidence of it is on the tapes, as portrayed in a minor subplot.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Nixon starts the taping of The White House in order to control the leaks. The tapes become a potentially fatal evidence during his impeachment.

* SirSwearsALot: Nixon, very much TruthInTelevision.

* HistoricalInJoke: Chief of Staff Al Haig yells out "I'm in Charge here!", when Nixon is admitted to hospital. This a reference to his bizarre press conference (while serving as Secretary of State) that he held when President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan suffered an assassination attempt.

* HistoricalInJoke: Chief of Staff Al Haig yells out "I'm in Charge here!", when Nixon is admitted to hospital. This a reference to his bizarre press conference (while serving as Secretary of State) that he held when President RonaldReagan suffered an assassination attempt.

* TragicHero: Played with in the character of RichardNixon (emphasis on "tragic") in a way that it makes Nixon into a giant case of WhatCouldHaveBeen. LampShaded by Kissinger.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Nixon visiting the Lincoln Memorial and coming across a group of antiwar protestors really happened, and (aside from the girl's speech about "the Beast") the dialogue is pretty close to published accounts of the incident. Nonetheless, some reviewers found the scene both unrealistic and implausible.

* HiddenDepths: In a quiet moment, Nixon laments the shooting of the students protesting over the bombing of Cambodia. He admits that he wants to send his condolences to the families, [[ThirdPersonPerson "But Nixon can't."]]
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: John Ehrlichman, who's treated as the OnlySaneMan trying to check Nixon's more extreme actions. In reality, he wasn't much different from Haldeman in either his protectiveness of Nixon and propensity for rough tactics against opponents.
* HistoricalInJoke: Chief of Staff Al Haig yells out "I'm in Charge here!", when Nixon is admitted to hospital. This a reference to his bizarre press conference (while serving as Secretary of State) that he held when President RonaldReagan suffered an assassination attempt.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Nixon starts the taping of The White House in order to control the leaks. The tapes become a potentially fatal evidence during his impeachment.

--> '''Nixon''': Exactly! Unpredictability is our best asset.

* NukeEm: At dinner with his advisors, Nixon threatens to take this action in Vietnam if he feels it will force the north Vietnamese to surrender. Everyone is aghast by the notion until Henry Kissinger chimes in that they have to entertain the possibility.

* CastingGag: Larry Hagman turns up as a [[{{Dallas}} Texas oil billionaire]].

1995[[note]]One year after its subject died[[/note]] biopic of the thirty-seventh President of the United States, directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring AnthonyHopkins as RichardNixon. The film explores Nixon and his triumphs and his failings, culminating in his resignation of the office of the presidency in disgrace following the revelation of his abuse of office and executive privilege following the Watergate scandal.

1995[[note]]One year after its subject died[[/note]] biopic of the [[UsefulNotes thirty-seventh President of the United States]], directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring AnthonyHopkins as RichardNixon. The film explores Nixon and his triumphs and his failings, culminating in his resignation of the office of the presidency in disgrace following the revelation of his abuse of office and executive privilege following the Watergate scandal.

* ChasteHero: Nixon isn't very interested in sex, whether with his wife or the floozies at Jack Jones' house.

* TheDragon: Haldeman for Nixon. TruthInTelevision, though the film downplays Ehrlichman's role as [[CoDragons Co Dragon]].

1995[[note]]One year after its subject died[[/note]] biopic of the [[RichardNixon thirty-seventh President of the United States]], directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring AnthonyHopkins as RichardNixon. The film explores Nixon and his triumphs and his failings, culminating in his resignation of the office of the presidency in disgrace following the revelation of his abuse of office and executive privilege following the Watergate scandal.

It was the second movie Stone made following ''Film/{{JFK}}'', and like the earlier film -- an angry, searing and rabble-rousing examination of the [[WhoShotJFK assassination of]] JohnFKennedy -- it drew a lot of controversy... but not necessarily for the reasons you'd expect. Unlike the earlier film, which was [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory heavily presented as fact]], this movie admits from the start it's based on 'an incomplete historical record' and is intended as less a hatchet job and more an attempt to understand who Nixon was and why he was compelled to act the way he did. As such, it earned critics from both sides; while supporters of Nixon (including his daughters) disowned it as inaccurate (in particular, it was argued that the depiction of Nixon and his wife's alcoholism and pill addiction was grossly exaggerated), some critics of Nixon argued that it wasn't harsh ''enough'' on the former president in that, while hardly downplaying his faults, it suggested that there was the potential (and even the realization) of greatness in the man. Stone would later paint [[TragicHero a similar portrait]] of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush in the eponymous ''{{Film/W}}''.

The plot is largely non-linear, at least for the first half, and essentially involves Nixon flashing back through his past as he listens to his secret tape recordings as the Watergate scandal intensifies, the tapes triggering memories of his childhood, his unsuccessful campaign for president against JohnFKennedy in 1960 and his wilderness years following an equally unsuccessful campaign for governor of California in 1962. The second half follows a more linear form, kicking off when Nixon is elected President in 1968, and follows his presidency through Vietnam, his groundbreaking visit to China and, of course, Watergate.

** JohnFKennedy as well. On the 1960 election:

* HiddenDepths: In a quiet moment, Nixon laments the shooting of the students protesting over the bombing of Cambodia.