Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017) User Reviews (80)

If you like American Political History and the Nixon Years This Film is For You

[carlos512 · 7/10 · 1 October 2017]

I liked it as the film adds to the discourse of the Nixon years, the most turbulent times in modern American history. So if you like American politics and history, you'll appreciate the film, which has good acting from the main lead character Irishman Liam Neeson as well as the supportive actors and the always gorgeous Diane Lane as the tormented wife of Mark Felt did really good to me.

Yes, it is true that there is a number of Americans, especially republicans who will forever hate the real Mark Felt, seeing him as the hugest rat and the most remarkable snitch who has ever walked on Earth, and ultimately as a who brought down the over-controlling presidency of Richard Nixon.

Other will love Mark Felt as a brave man who had no choice but to become an anonymous informant to the Washington Post in order to make the American people know the truth about their president.

Some others have even compared his actions to what in modern times have done Edgar Snowden, though snowden did not look for anonymity, Felt yes.

Even though times and technology and the political climate was different, i could see some similarity, especially that you have to be too committed to your cause to do things like that... or totally crazy. I think Felt and snowden were both deeply committed to what they thought was right,and nobody can argue with that. Because in life, we all do what we thing we have to do, right?

They followed their principles, weather they were right.. or wrong.

That is up to anyone to make up their own mind.

To me the film was a good film on modern American political history, and it touches journalism, ethics, the use of power and the insights of power in Washington, and what we see nowadays with trump just make us wonder if some mark felt would ever appear.

However, at certain times a bit boring (just a bit) but that was due to the non-stop dialogue.

I don't say that I will watch it again. Once is good and is enough, but I liked it. It was a good effort from the director Peter Landesman who also wrote it.. not surprisingly as landesman has been himself a journalist.

If you have some free time, like American politics, have nothing else to do and are luck to have some couple extra bucks to spend, this movie is for you.

Precise Editing and Plot.

[Nathiri · 7/10 · 7 February 2018]

From the very beginning, in order to understand everything, you do have to pay close attention to each scene and dialogue. While the cutting in most areas of the movie is very precise and fine for the tone, there were a couple bits that seemed an odd transition. I found the story shown quite intriguing, though I have not looked in detail in the real-life story. The conclusion felt a bit anti-climatic, but it is an okay ending.

I would consider this movie watchable if you enjoy a tense and a semi-complicated plot structure for a movie. I would even say it can be re-watched occasionally, though there is little humour displayed.

Promising start then fails to deliver as much as hoped for

[phd_travel · 6/10 · 6 October 2017]

Everyone knows the scandal but not many know the man who was responsible was a number 2 at the FBI and that makes for a promising start. After all the whistle blower's point of view should be more exciting than the reporter's point of view as in All the President's Men. With Assange and Snowden and Chelsea Manning it seemed quite relevant to bring this sort of thing up again. The sinister White House powers against the independence of the FBI and Liam Neeson's shining integrity are quite interesting at first. But the posturing doesn't lead to much. I felt I didn't learn that much more beyond these two facts. The most disappointing thing was the final reveal that brought down Nixon seemed like an anti climax.

Diane Lane as long suffering wife looks young again and so does Scandal's Tony Goldwyn as an FBI men in a suit. Another suit is played by Josh Lucas. It's good that familiar faces are in these supporting roles so the viewer can recognize them quickly. Liam himself is fine if a bit haggard looking - hope this was just make up for the role.

It's not a waste of time but it isn't a must watch.

What a thriller

[Gordon-11 · 14 January 2018]

This film tells the story of the deputy chief of the FBI, who is not given the promotion that he thought he would get. He then goes on to expose the biggest political scandal of all time.

It is interesting that this film does not concentrate on external events at all, so you don't get to see who the seven people who got arrested are, or what evidence the agents have uncovered. It only deals with what Mark Felt have seen or heard, so most of the film occurs in the office. Because of this, viewers who are unfamiliar with the Watergate scandal will have to read about it in advance in order to fully understand the plot. It is a thrilling story, especially the fact that Mark Felt must have endured enormous pressure during that time, and all the subsequent years of his life.

Neeson carries the film

[niko-oinonen · 6/10 · 30 March 2019]

Many movies have been made of the events surrounding the Watergate scandal, All the King's Men probably being the most famous one. Mark Felt falls somewhere in the alright section amongst them. Liam Neeson, playing Mark himself, is the carrying force here. It solely focuses on the scandal from Mark's perspective, stripping away almost everything else. It's not necessarily a bad thing since the subject matter has been tackled in film before.

Something is still missing here, something that would have wowed me. It's a story a man who's torn between his loyalty to an institution that he has served for many years and his frustration of the corruption and the filth that is taking over it. There certainly is some of it here, but it seems that the more factual based storytelling plays a bigger role here. Luckily Neeson's portrayal of Mark Felt keeps the whole thing afloat and makes it an interesting watch.

IF UR INTERSTING IN FBI STORY THEN GO WATCH

[themizzz · 7/10 · 31 January 2018]

Liam nesson my all time favorite actor

well let me tell u about this movie "mark felt" great movie and awesome performens by liam and other actor too

guyz if u love spy things then watch it now

Even Liam Neeson couldn't save Peter Landesman's poor writing and directing

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7/10 · 9 February 2018]

This was a good story that needed to be told well, but instead was all over the place and lacked the "oomph" to hold the viewers attention. 103 mins isn't that long for a film with this much information needing to be told, but this one felt much longer with its dragged out pacing. It was poorly edited with I'm sure some important parts cut, and unimportant parts left in. The cinematography was on point, but even the directors lack of direction towards his actors left them stale and mostly uninteresting. 7/10 from me

A solid movie about a difficult subject

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 16 November 2017]

"Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House" (this title is a bit too sensational for my liking, almost works against the idea and subject this way, just "Felt" would have been much better) is a new 100-minute movie and the most recent release by writer and director Peter Landesman. After collaborating with Will Smith and Oprah previously, his lead actor is Oscar nominee Liam Neeson. He plays the man whose books were also taken as the basis for this movie here: Mark Felt and the film's title already gives away the basis of the film here as he is the one who massively contributed to bringing down Richard Nixon as a consequence of the Watergate affair. By the way, the real Felt died less than a decade ago and he was the associate director of the FBI already under the lead of Hoover. This is referenced early on in this film too, but after Hoover's death the film is all about the title character for sure. And how he deals with issues in his professional as well as private lives. The latter refers to his marriage as well as the apparently complicated relationship with his daughter, but I must say that this was executed really not well at all. It was totally rushed in to be honest and I don't know if they were really expecting an emotional reaction from the audience too when Felt finds his daughter in the end. It was pretty embarrassing and should have been left out completely.

Luckily with the connection to the FBI and Deep Throat and Watergate, the film does a much better job, but this is of course also the key story. I think Neeson did a pretty good job overall, even if it is a bit sad to see him aged that hard. Still, it is probably not a performance or movie that will get a great deal of attention from the Oscars, probably none at all. But why? It's dealing with one of the crucial events from 20th century American politics. It's difficult to say why. Maybe because most of the supporting players, if not all of them, were somewhat underwhelming and with that I don't mean the performances, but the material they were given. The best example is Eddie Marsan, a really versatile actor, who was reduced to a one-scene character. Maybe it was that they would not take any attention away from Neeson. By the way, Michael C. Hall (Dexter) is in it too, even if almost unrecognizable. While telling an interesting story, I still feel that the whole subject is still not 100% clear with what was going on behind the scenes that I would say that this hurts the film's overall perception a bit too. It's tough to make a revealing movie when not everything is actually revealed. Ironically enough, the subject itself is also about revelations back then already. So yes, it wasn't a bad watch, but I think the subject offered a lot more than they managed to achieve here. It's not among the list of the defining and best edge-of-seat political thrillers from recent years. Quite a pity indeed. Nonetheless, I still give it a thumbs-up, a cautious one though as the last pretty great scene and shot can't make me forget about the great deal of mediocrity before. Politics may not really be Landesman's thing. If you like Neeson or the genre, preferably both, then you probably won't be disappointed here.

For political junkies, this is a must-see......

[Indyrod · 8/10 · 6 March 2018]

Just watched this biography, drama about the man who worked for the FBI for 31 years, and was the informer they called "deep throat' in the Watergate scandal, and downfall of a POTUS. Liam Neeson plays Mark Felt, and he does a superior job. If you are a political junkie like me, you will really like this movie, if not, you will probably be bored. But, not only very educational, I found it very good.

Decent Portrayal of Deep Throat with a few Glaring Gaps: Unfortunately Disappointing

[classicalsteve · 7/10 · 17 June 2018]

Anyone who knows the story of Watergate is typically fascinated by "Deep Throat", the government informant who tipped off Bob Woodward and the Washington Post about not only the cover-up but about Nixon's operatives who tried to sabotage political enemies. This film attempts to expose who Mark Felt was and why he became Deep Throat. The good news of the film is a tremendous performance by Liam Neeson and a solid supporting cast. The not-so-good news is the lack of juicy moments which were sacrificed. I was a bit unsatisfied by film's end.

Mark Felt, a.k.a. Deep Throat, will go down in history as possibly the most famous informant in US history. The question has always loomed: why did he break ranks and leak information to the press? Concerning these two questions, the film succeeds in answering them more or less. Felt was caught between a hard place and the Nixon administration. That hard place was Watergate in which the FBI was the de-facto investigative body.

After J. Edgar Hoover died while still serving as FBI director, the White House nominated L. Patrick "Pat" Gray as acting director and put his name forward as a candidate for permanent director. Gray was simply a pawn of the White House and the Nixon administration. The different federal agencies are supposed to act independently to prevent collusion and consolidation of power. Gray came from the military, and Nixon probably believed by putting Gray in the director's chair rather than someone who had decades of experience at the bureau, like Felt, the new administrator would carry out Nixon's bidding. Gray did things as ordered by the White House not realizing the FBI does not submit to the President. Mark Felt also believed he should have been nominated as the new director instead of an outsider like Gray.

With these forces acting upon him, Felt relents and engages in behavior which he had never done in 30 years: leak important information to the press. Where the film fails, sadly, is in one of the most important and fascinating aspects of the whole Watergate episode: his relationship with Bob Woodward. The film shows only two phone calls and one garage meeting with Woodward. In "All the President's Men", three meetings are portrayed with Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat.

A missed opportunity. I wanted to experience on-screen how Felt and Woodward met and how their relationship developed. This is the juiciest aspect of Felt's story which was compromised. Another side story explored in the film is Felt's daughter who joined a commune. While interesting, I found that tangent less compelling than his relationship with Woodward which was given very little screen time. Overall a bit of a disappointment.

Good story weakly told

[gsbuie · 3/10 · 10 September 2019]

The Watergate scandal is not only an interesting story it is one that needs to be remembered. However, this movie is a touch slow, the writing and acting marginal and the side story of Felt's home life distracting. Alas, the worst sin is committed by Liam Neeson. For a man born and raised in Idaho, Felt sounds very Irish.

companion piece

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 14 February 2018]

Mark Felt (Liam Neeson) is the Associate Director of the FBI as the right-hand man of the legendary Hoover. He's considered the G-Men's G-Man. After Hoover's death, L. Patrick Gray is appointed the acting director over Felt despite his loyal 30 years career. His wife Audrey (Diane Lane) suggests resigning. They are still struggling with their estranged daughter Joan who had run away a year earlier. It's 1972 and there's a break-in at the Watergate. Felt is ordered to limit his investigation and he would become the infamous whistle blower Deep Throat.

This could work as a companion piece to All The President's Men. Oddly enough, both extreme sides of the political spectrum would consider Felt a villain. One would consider him a traitor. The other would consider him a jackbooted militaristic police. Neither would find this movie fair and balanced. On the other hand, some today would find this very fitting. Neeson is a perfect sincere self-righteous FBI agent. This is one version of the man and allows a bit of insight. That is more than enough.

On Woodward impersonation

[clockwisecloud · 6/10 · 6 February 2021]

Two words - beyond criticism. The journalist was potrayed a weak, confused person or rather as a meaningless individual whose role was to only put down Felt's words on paper, no analysis, nothing. A two dimentional character. Didn't work for me, sorry Julian Morris and the crew.

Liam Neeson was believable as Felt, a strong portrayal. 8 points for that. Overall - 6.

NOTHING YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE...!

[masonfisk · 5/10 · 22 November 2018]

Sheesh! The title is almost as long as the movie. Anyhoo, this is the story of the infamous Deep Throat, the leaker who gave info to Woodward & Bernstein during the Watergate scandal in the 70's. Played w/his usual strength & dignity, Liam Neeson does what he can w/what really is a thumbnail sketch of a film. Yes he was an important figure in history but he only merits a mention when it comes to a big screen treatment. Hell I think he pops up once in All the President's Men & even Forrest Gump deserves as much a seat at the table in toppling Nixon as anybody else. Filmmakers need to get over the fact that most important moments in history have probably been committed to film so every little angle or aspect needn't this kind of attention. Felt reminded me of a movie named Parkland from a few years ago where the hospital where JFK was treated after his assassination was given its own cinematic moment in time when really pretty much all that needed to be said on the subject has been uttered. The same goes here.

Forceful film about decisions under pressure

[lor_ · 19 September 2017]

A brief clip of Walter Cronkite on TV in "Mark Felt..." reminded me of the authority the legendary newscaster generated back in the day, and star Liam Neeson likewise lends immeasurable gravitas to this film of ideas, a tangential look at the Watergate case.

Just as Mark Felt, self-identified decades later to be the mysterious Deep Throat who aided Woodward & Bernstein in revealing to the public the White House wrongdoings, is a footnote in American history, so too this well-made movie is destined to be a mere footnote in film history. That's because it does not fit into popular genres, specifically the thriller, but is more the province of television drama in the 21st Century.

Back in the day, this would have been an A-production release from United Artists or later Columbia Pictures in the Stanley Kramer vein, his films about ideas and problem subjects like "The Men" with Brando or "Home of the Brave", but nowadays it is up to successor company to Columbia, specialty division, namely Sony Pictures Classics, to bring this worthy effort to a blasé public.

I happen to love movies of this type, far more than the Action Man pictures like "Taken" that have made of middle-aged actor Neeson an iconic action figure. The best movie I recall is "Command Decision", a war movie, but minus the action, and more recently (though 2 decades back) the excellent "Executive Decision" starring Kurt Russell.

Felt's importance at the FBI, notably in the wake of J. Edgar's death, is the principal thrust of Peter Landesman's film. It moves along on a low flame, tension mounting imperceptibly under the handicap of the viewer being already aware, certainly in broad strokes, of the incidents being covered in the wake of the burglary of Dem offices at D.C.'s Watergate Hotel, as well as the ultimate outcome. But using insider Felt's point- of-view gives us an interesting vantage point.

Neeson as Felt is a noir hero, self-divided and trying to do the right thing but caught in a malevolent universe where, to paraphrase TV's "The Fugitive", fate is moving a huge hand. His conflict with new acting FBI head Gray, well-played subtly by Marton Csokas, is quite believable, and helps to add depth to the otherwise black & white "whose side are you on" in the story's depiction of a war between the evil White House and the "standing up for our country" FBI.

It is Felt's personal life that creates the movie's emotional core, at first seeming irrelevant but actually paying off by movie's end more forcefully than the character's heroics. He's carrying a torch for his missing daughter Joan (Maika Monroe, in an understated turn), who brings in a serious subplot of the society's counterculture from the '60s and a different kind of terrorism than that confronting the nation and the FBI today. Felt's belated war against the Weather Underground and other leftist domestic groups is what proves to be his personal downfall, as he ends up resorting to horrible, illegal tactics just as his dreaded villain of a former co-worker Sullivan (smoothly played by instant bad guy Tom Sizemore) and innumerable Nixon cronies did. I found Felt's Jekyll & Hyde split personality traits of honor vs. expediency to be the core of the movie's subdued power.

Casting of Monroe was a big help, as she closely resembles mom Diane Lane, the latter actress doing well in a very difficult role that suffers in Landesman's writing from a bit too many '50s/'60s clichés of the unfulfilled woman trapped in a marriage that rendered her totally subservient/dependent on her husband.

NOTE: Previous review posted on IMDb is a trashing of the movie by someone who hadn't seen it -just assuming how bad and slanted it would be. I've wished this website would control such poor and distracting behavior by users -antithetical to the whole purpose of submitting reviews.

This was good

[drewmegan-42275 · 7/10 · 11 July 2021]

This was actually well crafted, it lacked a better ending, but overall pleasing.

Most of the conflict was left out and made as passive information, which was annoying, big news was confusing as it was downplayed.

While not an excellent historical movie, still well told

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 29 November 2021]

I was curious about this movie since the first time I heard about it in May 2020. A week ago I had finally the chance of watching it and despite it was ok, I wanted to like it more.

The movie begins on April 11, 1972. Nixon's advisors ask Mark Felt (Liam Neeson) how to ask to J. Edgar Hoover to step aside as the FBI director. Few days later tho, Hoover dies. Pat Grey (Marton Csokas) is the new FBI director and Felt is the Deputy Director put in charge of investigating an effraction at the Watergate hotel. Grey has also direct contact with Nixon and the day of the scandal he orders to stop the investigations. Felt, however, continues his investigations in private and search for truth, and he manages to pass the results to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Felt will manage to uncover the Watergate scandal, but this will cost his position in the FBI and in 1973 is forced to resign.

This movie is good especially for history lovers especially ones who know very well that period of time in the US. The acting is the best asset; Neeson shows a lot of his range in a non-thriller movie and the supporting cast (Bruce Greenwood as a reporter, Tom Sizemore as Felt's rival Bill Sullivan and Josh Lucas as the agent who suspects that Felt is leaking informations about the Watergate scandal) gives a great job. My quibble is that at times the movie was confusing especially when it focused on Felt searching for his daughter in a hippie comunity; it didn't had nothing to do with the movie for me.

All in all, an ok movie about a true story with some fine acting and great cinematography.

Unbelievable

[elgrampo77 · 7/10 · 12 October 2020]

But Liam can still really Play other figures than the usual drunk & broken ex-Agent father looking for his missing daughter (Or trying to revenge her). Nicely played and interesting story although maybe a bit too long and yes, you definitely need to know a bit about the watergate history before watching the movie.

Good

[ckepel · 6/10 · 24 June 2022]

Good watch. Interesting story and decent acting. Nice to see Liam Neeson without running and shooting.

The art direction is amazing. Fantastic 70ties feel. But why on earth did they have to shake and sway the camera during key conversations?? Made me physically sick and complete ripped me out of the story.

Please stop this jitter nonsense.

Due to this, for me it's a 6. Could have been an 8 without the shaky cam.

Confusion is Control

[nogodnomasters · 9/10 · 18 February 2018]

This is the biopic of Mark Felt also code named "Deep Throat" by the Washington Post. The production concentrates on the internal workings of the FBI during this time as well as Felt's personal struggle to reunite with his daughter who ran away and joined a hippie commune. It starts about the time J. Edgar Hoover died.

The film was timely in a sense as it eerily mirrors the Mueller investigation of the White House. You can't help but think about what is happening today. I am a sucker for history films and tend to over rate them. I would say "All the President's Men" was a superior film and an excellent counterpart.

Guide: 1 F-word. No sex or nudity.

Important History, But Not An Important Film

[paulwaidelich · 7/10 · 30 December 2017]

Having lived through the Nixon years, I was hoping for a more complete All The Presidents Men. Knowing now the name of Deep Throat, I was looking for cinematic greatness (or at least some entertainment) in the retelling of this important story. The historical accuracy was my only reward. Mark Felt is a movie worth watching, but as a documentary and not as a compelling movie. The Nixon years were a time when a ruthless, suspicious, narcissistic psychopath looked to consolidate the power of the presidency and move our nation towards an imperial democracy. Anyone see any possible parallels to current events? Mark Felt as a man belongs on a short list of patriots who stepped up at a critical moment in American history, much like Patrick Henry or (more controversially) Edward Snowden. Instead, we got a historically accurate but dramatically deficient movie that will be quickly forgotten. Like most reviewers on IMDB, I am ignorant of how movies are truly made. I cannot say who bears responsibility for making this an average film. The director? The writer? Liam Neeson leads an able cast and does a good job. The true story was an emotional cliffhanger, with the stakes being the highest since the Civil War. Nixon was a man elected president who wanted to become a dictator. Mark Felt and the Washington Post took him on almost singlehandedly, and saved the Constitution. This story needs to be retold. Mark Felt, The Man Who Brought Down the White House, doesn't come close to capturing the real life drama and importance of this OMG moment in our nation's history.

I'm OK with slow, but this was dull and uninteresting.

[subxerogravity · 5/10 · 30 September 2017]

God! I wish this was Taken 4!:

I know I know, this is not met to be anywhere near the action packed "man with many skills" thrillers that the great Liam Neeson has become so well known for. This was met to be a dramatic turn that actors of his caliber take for the fulfilling challenge of the craft. You know what the real challenge is? Sitting through this slow burn.

I could not believe this movie was only an hour and forty three minutes, it felt like I was sitting in that seat for a lifetime watching the dullest investigation I have ever seen. The crappy part is that the movie is so focus on the performance of Neeson as Mark Felt that they don't even bother really going through the investigation of Watergate. You would think that would be good considering the movie is called Mark Felt, but in reality , the movie tells you nothing about the man. I feel like I have very little insight into him, even when they did detours into his life with his wife , played by the beautiful Diane Lane, and his estrange relationship with his daughter of which he uses FBI resources to resolve.

It's one of the most famous scandals in history. Not that I was that much interested in it from a entertainment standpoint, but I'm really surprise this movie did nothing to at least spark a little interest. It was so dull, sooooo dull and they met for it to be that dull. You can tell from the dark gloomy colors and the fact that they did not use music to give the effect of suspense, and unfortunately, no one's acting (not even Neeson) was good enough to support this illusion of lack of effort the movie is trying to give.

Skip this one man, read a book if you want to learn about Mark Felt. Hopefully the set in the 80s sequel were the Soviets take Felt's daughter and he uses his FBI skills to get her back will be a lot better.

http://cinemagardens.com

Interesting, informative, historical look at the scandal and taking down of a president.

[blanbrn · 9/10 · 25 October 2017]

Every history buff knows "Watergate" and the scandal that shook Washington and took down president "Nixon" and the term "Deep Throat" rings a bell with this issue. Well finally a film puts this person in showcase spotlight that being Mark Felt(good performance from Liam Neeson) the man who brought down the white house literally. The film is informative with the behind the scenes look at the interviews and investigations after the "Watergate" break ins and it's looked at first with doubt, cover up, skepticism, and not wanting to believe from not just the administration, but many agents who are close to Nixon want a cover up. However Mark Felt is the one agent who wants answers and the truth as he feels the need for honor and integrity. So this film is a well done investigative journey of the behind the scenes workings of the political game and it's under the table moves and ways of doing business, while it seeks truth and justice while bringing down those involved. Really if your a history buff this is a near perfect film to watch as it's informative.

Mark Felt: The Man who Brought down the White House

[henry8-3 · 6/10 · 31 December 2018]

The story of 'Deep Throat' who leaked Watergate secrets to the Washington Post and why.

Whilst this may not be as tense as 'All the President's Men' as it's focus is on a man on the inside rather than building a case from the outside, it is still enjoyable to witness the story of the World's most famous whistleblower.

Whilst a solid supporting cast is at work here, and the pace is well enough maintained, it is largely as good as it is, because of the performance and presence of Liam Neeson as the titular Felt.

Not sure the clunky title didn't contribute to this flopping.

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House

[cultfilmfan · 5/10 · 2 December 2017]

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, is unfortunately a prime example of a case where you have a film dealing with real people and events that in the right and most capable of hands could potentially have turned into a riveting and overall fantastic movie given the fact that the overall subject matter and the real events and surroundings are fascinating in their own right and yet unfortunately the crew behind this film turn what could have been a truly mesmerizing film into a dull and ultimately lifeless piece of film. The film if you do not already know, is based upon the famous whistle blower who helped convict and later turned in secret evidence concerning then President Richard Nixon's association with the Watergate Scandal and how that ended his second term as President of the United States with him resigning as commander and chief which was probably a smart move because otherwise he would have been impeached. As anyone who is familiar with my reviews knows that I have a deep and passionate interest in politics and not just in my home country of Canada, but overall across the globe. I was not even born yet when Nixon was in office, or this whole scandal occurred, but I was nonetheless very familiar with it from my childhood days of reading old Doonesbury comic strips amongst the countless films and pieces of media that have been made upon the subject. The story and subject matter in itself is a fascinating one and was even made into the award winning, All the President's Men back in the 70's. And yet here the cast and crew do not seem to know how to approach this material and one of their biggest faults is turning what could have been an endlessly fascinating film into one of the most dull and I will say boring films of this, or any number of recent years. The film has a screenplay that seems to suffer from lack of ambition on all and every account. The film takes Mark Felt and makes him dull, boring and not a character who captures, or maintains the least amount of interest among the viewers. Neither do the side characters as well, they all feel very uninspired and in search of a better film to have been made about them. Most people probably know most if not all of the things that lead up to Nixon's resignation as well as the Watergate Scandal itself and this film manages to tell it in a way that seems to be flailing all over the place with no true direction, or end in sight. It takes what should be a simple and straightforward story and makes it jumbled and confusing which doesn't add much to the fact that the film is an outright bore in every other area. Even some subplots including Felt's missing daughter have no emotional impact, or any lasting interest upon the viewers because the characters have not been developed well enough for us to be invested in them, or care really one iota about what is going on when in fact in reality these were fascinating things and yet everything this film touches seems to be made wooden, lifeless and in bad need of resuscitation. I also can not give any accolades to the acting because it also is all over the place with some of the actors going too over the top with their performances, some who look like they are sleepwalking throughout the course of the film and others whose performances are so hammy that the Golden Raspberry Awards do not have to look far for some of it's worst performance of the year awards. One of the film's major problems is it's screenplay because it simply does not seem to know how to tell this story, to deliver a simple and yet effective plot line without making it all confusing and muddled and these characters all seem so one dimensional and we neither care about them, or what is happening to them and this is a film that is less than two hours in length and yet because it is so meandering and meaningless the film seems like it is coasting on autopilot for eternity leaving us sleeping in the backseat. This is a film that could have been potentially great in the right hands and yet as it stands it will remain a film that will not rouse even the least bit of interest and feels amateurishly done in the worst way possible. In other words, avoid like the plague.