#77: All the President's Men (Hoffman, Redford)

Alright, there have been plenty of movies so far on this list that have underwhelmed me or been outright disappointments. This includes the first Alan J. Pakula film I saw, Sophie's Choice. There have also been some very good movies, ones that deserve the accolades they've received. This is a rare movie that does everything a movie is supposed to do, and always with class and excellence.

The casting: Lots of gritty 30+ year-old actors who are not appealing to the eye. Some of them downright ugly, a lot of guys with Bill Hader haircuts. Man, do they really relay the common man and make him real, though.

The cinematography: The French Connection, which was onlyl 5 years earlier, did a hideous job of filming guys walking around. They tacked on an extra 20 minutes of movie time with absolutely nothing interesting. Here, every time someone walked, it was interesting. The shots were great, the way that Hoffman and Redford moved from one place to another always told what they were thinking. Just great.

There is not a drop of action in the movie. It's all dialogue, it's all phone calls and house visits and board meetings and guys sitting around the newsroom with noisy typewriters banging away and people talking. It doesn't need anything else. Everyone does a great job of acting. The lost art of the facial expression is at its finest, with no thought of striking a Brangelina sexy pose ever entering the actors' minds.

Granted, I am counting down, so the movies should be getting better. They really haven't been, though. There's been no real connection between rank and quality. This, though. This is a movie. Great suspense. Great acting all around. Highest marks.