Review
THE ASSASINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
Starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Don Cheadle
Written and directed by Niels Mueller
Opens Friday, March 18
Globe Cinema
The year was 1974. In one of those moments that history forgot (or quite possibly was never aware of), an unstable and obviously desperate twerp came up with a plan to hijack an airliner and fly it into the White House. The individual was a socially inept, short-tempered, unemployed tire salesman named Sam Byck. The Assassination of Richard Nixon is his story.
Now, while Byck is the kind of personality that screams Robert De Niro, the role pretty much defines Sean Penn. Sure, the actor has delivered better performances (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, to name a few), but he’s never been required to be so solid in order to carry a film quite so flimsy.
Writer-director Niels Mueller (he scripted Tadpole and makes his debut behind the camera here) figures there’s enough meat behind this retro footnote for a compelling picture. Unfortunately, he’s dead wrong. The Assassination of Richard Nixon is a rather bland period piece with not a lot to say about the era or the circumstances surrounding Byck’s ill-fated plot. Thankfully, Penn is on his game and makes his character’s descent into madness a fascinating character study. And when the smoke clears, that’s really all this movie is – a character study.
With the spelling of his last name adjusted for whatever reason, we witness the birth pains of Bicke’s slow burn. His job as an office supply sales guy sucks (Sam can’t bring himself to use deceptive sales tactics), his marriage is dead (Marie [Naomi Watts] knows it, but Sam won’t buy it) and the Small Business Administration’s red tape surrounding his dream to start up a mobile tire store with his best friend (Don Cheadle) is unravelling Bicke’s last shred of sanity.
All the while, TV images of Richard Nixon, the man he blames for all the world’s problems ("the biggest liar of them all," Sam claims), haunt Bicke to the point that he decides to do something very, very stupid.
There isn’t a heck of a lot of suspense involved in a story like this – Nixon lived to the ripe old age of 81 and died not from a Delta-DC 9 parking on his desk, but a massive stroke. Obviously, Bicke’s plan failed. Some clever cinematography, not to mention a brilliantly nervous Penn, assists Mueller in building up Bicke’s increasing paranoia. On the home stretch of The Assassination of Richard Nixon, we really do begin to care about what will become of Bicke – pretty ironic since even the most trite pop culture archives don’t seem to give a rip about him. |
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