Assassination of Richard Nixon, The: Neils Mueller’s Expose, Starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts

Lacking a clear point of view, “The Assassination of Richard Nixon” is a bleak but slight character study of a salesman who descended into madness and hell just in order to prove to himself that he is “somebody.”
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
The Assassination of Richard Nixon poster.JPG

Theatrical release poster

 

If it were not for the A-list cast, headed by Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, “Assassination of Nixon” would have been dismissed as a pretentious film reaching higher than its grasp. The inevitable comparisons to Scorsese’s 1976 masterpiece “Taxi Driver” make Neils Mueller’s expose a pale and toothless imitation. The intent to ground the film in the tradition of Arthur Miller’s classic “Death of a Salesman,” just because its hero is a salesman, also fails to elevate the muddled film above mediocrity.

Like “Taxi Driver,” “Assassination of Nixon” is set in the 1970s, in February 1974 to be precise, a time of political unrest. However, the least the filmmakers could do is come up with a different name for their protagonist, Bicke, which sounds too much like Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), the disturbed violence-prone hero of “Taxi Driver.”

A quintessentially American figure, Samuel J. Bicke (Penn) is a 44-year-old man who wants to believe in the American Dream. However, at every turn, his faith in himself and in the surrounding world is undermined. Bicke is separated from his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), who refuses to consider reconciliation, and he’s estranged from his brother Julius (Michael Wincott), a businessman whose success serves as a reminder of Bicke’s professional failures.

With his personal life in disarray, Bicke struggles to hold onto yet another job for which he is fundamentally unfit. We are led to believe that he is an idealist who detests lying, though his profession, a salesman in an office supply company, calls for insincerity, opportunism, and deceit.

The only bright spot in Bicke’s life is his dream of opening a tire repair service with his auto mechanic friend, Bonny (Don Cheadle). You may recall that in “Boogie Nights,” Cheadle himself dreams of opening his own stereo store. The business proposal requires a bank loan, which makes Bicke nervous, fearing his application will be denied.

As his anxiety mounts, Bicke begins to fall apart–he becomes paranoid. Vulnerable and insecure, all he sees is injustice and hypocrisy. He thinks it’s wrong that his wife Marie, who works at a bar to support their three children, has to wear short skirts to get bigger tips, and that Bonny’s customers should get away with abusive behavior just because he is black.

Bicke aims at striking out at all the offenders, particularly the arc villain, Richard Nixon. Bicke’s boss (Jack Thompson) describes Nixon as the “greatest salesman” in history, because he swindled the American people not once but twice. But for Bicke, Nixon embodies everything that’s wrong with the world.

“Assassination of Nixon” unfolds as a catalogue of ill-fated events: The loan is rejected, Bicke’s ex-wife and his brother abandon him, and his dreams of starting a business die unrealized. As a result, he decides that the only way to change his insignificant life is to execute a grand gesture that will make his presence felt. Dreams give way to delusions, and a new Bicke emerges, a resolute, resourceful man, sets out on a crusade to right the world’s wrongs.

Centering on a man who plotted an abortive attempt to kill Nixon, “Assassination” is meant to be a chilling drama about the dark side of the American dream. Co-written by Mueller and Kevin Kennedy, the film is based on the real-life story of Samuel Bicke, who in 1974 attempted to hijack an airplane and planned to crash it into the White House. But Bicke’s goal to leave his mark on the world turned out to be a failure, too. He never succeeded in getting near the President. In the annals of assassins and would-be assassins, he’s just a footnote, eclipsed by the Watergate scandal and its extensive TV coverage.

Mueller sees this chapter of American history, one that began in 1963 with the first Kennedy assassination and ended in 1974 with Nixon’s resignation, as the decade of shock, one in which America lost its innocence. But, unfortunately, as a character study, “Assassination” is shallow, failing to illuminate the process of Bicke’s loss of sympathy and his determination to lash out in indiscriminate violence.

There’s a good deal irony in the story, since no one even noticed the assassination attempt, all the more underscoring Bicke’s alienation. American society has become so immune to violence that no individual act, no matter how horrific, has much impact anymore. Unlike future would-be assassinations, such as President Reagan’s, this attempt went unnoticed and then got lost amid the brouhaha of the Watergate scandal.

Like Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver,” Bicke is recording his observations into a tape recorder. Later, he sends the tapes to composer Leonard Bernstein and others. Bicke’s attempt to kill Nixon emerged later, after sending the confessional tapes to “Washington Post” reporter Jack Anderson, who wrote about the incident. The assault is taken from news accounts and F.B.I. files, and the news reports seen and heard at the end of the film are actual clips from CBS and NBC coverage of the hijacking.

Mueller and Kennedy combine their fictionalized script with facts of Bicke’s actual life, such as his family and professional circumstances, and the fact that he did face the possibility of criminal charges for receiving stolen goods.

Regrettably, “Assassination of Nixon” fails as a particular historical case study and as an allegory of the dark side of the American Dream. Bicke comes across as just another lonely and alienated figure. And he is really not a tragic hero, which means that comparisons to Arthur Miller’s “Death of Salesman” are unwarranted. Unlike Willy Loman, Bicke never convinces that he did believe in the American dream and in his right to own a piece of it. Bicke had a number of sales jobs, but he was never good at it. His lack success was frustrating experience that lowered his self-esteem.

It’s a known fact that many Americans form their opinions in their living room, while watching TV indiscriminately. Bicke’s responses and actions are meant to be typical of average citizens. When something goes wrong, Bicke looks to his leader. When he needs an answer to a question, he looks for it on TV. After all, Nixon, and every President after him, have run for office–and have run the country–on camera.

For a first feature, the film is technically well crafted. Visually, everything is seen from Bicke’s subjective point of view; all the unadulterated close-ups are reserved for him. Quite impressively, as Bicke descends into madness, the camera becomes unhinged and unstable. However, as a whole, “Assassination of Nixon” is directed in a cold, detached manner that prevents involvement or empathy with Bicke. As viewers, we seldom feel angry or shocked, even when Bicke goes beyond the pale.

Penn delivers a performance that’s vastly different from his Oscar-winning turn in “Mystic River.” In that picture, adorned with tattoos and surrounded by a queen and henchmen like a latter-day warlord, Penn was mythic and larger-than-life. In contrast, in “Assassination,” he seems to have shrunken in size, playing an “average Joe,” a failure both at home and in the workplace. In a remarkably understated performance, Penn excels as an ordinary man who feels forced to take extraordinary measures to be “somebody.”

In “Taxi Driver,” Bickle was obsessed with washing the scum, literal and human, from the streets, literal and human. His goal was to rescue a teenage prostitute by restoring her to her parents and small-town education. Bickle was a combination of a Western hero with a horror movie monster, placed in an urban film noir. A Vietnam vet turned taxi driver, Bickle lets the violence and squalor around him to explode in his mind. Bickle’s insomnia and sexual repression were directly related to the climatic orgy of violence at the end of the film.

“Taxi Driver” was an explosive film about the brutal consequence of emotional and psychology isolation among life’s fringe element. A social misfit, Bickle is unable to come to terms with the urban hell that both attracts and repels him. Unable to relate to any other person, Bickle finally explodes, releasing his bottled-up tensions in bloody massacre. Bickle sleeps in short naps during the day, pops pills to calm down his nerves, swings peach brandy, which he sometimes pours onto his breakfast cereal, goes to porn flicks to relax. “Taxi Driver” succeeded as an allegory of the American experience in Vietnam, showing how the country, just like Bickle, went from detached isolationism all the way to a violent but ineffective intervention

“Assassination of Nixon” fails to examine the psychological causes that push Bicke over the edge. Mueller and Kennedy’s script imposes an intellectual scheme upon Bicke’s story, which robs their film of any mystery. There is no historical context and no point of view from which to get a handle on Bicke. “Unlike Travis’s, Bicke’s journey from normalcy to despair and madness is simplistically depicted. Assassination of Nixon” is an individual’s disaster movie with no mind of its own. Unlike Bicke, Bickle remains fascinating throughout the film, perhaps because he is more than a certifiably insane character; he’s a projection of our nightmare of urban alienation.

“Assassination of Nixon” aims to show similarities between American society of the 1970s, and today, but, ultimately, it fails to work as period piece or as an allegory about our troubled times. The question of whether it was worth making a film about such a minor figure, a loser no one heard of, persists when the movie is over, and that’s a bad sign.

Credits:

Directed by Niels Mueller
Produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Jorge Vergara
Written by Niels Mueller, Kevin Kennedy
Music by Steven M. Stern
Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by Jay Cassidy

Production company

Anhelo Productions
Appian Way
Esperanto Filmoj

Distributed by ThinkFilm

Release date: May 17, 2004 (Cannes); December 29, 2004 (US)

Running time: 95 minutes
Budget $4.6 million
Box office: $4.4 million

xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosokeonhacaiketquabongdalichthidau7m.newskqbdtysokeobongdabongdalufutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbsport.fitonbet88.oooi9bet.bizhi88.ooookvip.atf8bet.atfb88.cashvn88.cashshbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩa开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育亚新体育亚新体育亚新体育爱游戏爱游戏爱游戏华体会华体会华体会IM体育IM体育沙巴体育沙巴体育PM体育PM体育AG尊龙AG尊龙AG尊龙AG百家乐AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人<AG真人<皇冠体育皇冠体育PG电子PG电子万博体育万博体育KOK体育KOK体育欧宝体育江南体育江南体育江南体育半岛体育半岛体育半岛体育凯发娱乐凯发娱乐杏彩体育杏彩体育杏彩体育FB体育PM真人PM真人<米乐娱乐米乐娱乐天博体育天博体育开元棋牌开元棋牌j9九游会j9九游会开云体育AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88