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Such a frustrating disappointment

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Dull, and not very objective in its story-telling (like many Sean Penn movies). Apparently based on a true story, it would be good to know how much of it is actually true. You get the sneaky feeling that a (mostly) fictional back-story was added to an event, with a left-wing agenda.Too much time spent on minor details, and thus very slow-developing. Problem is, without all the padding, it would probably be less an hour long! Hardly a movie, then.Sean Penn is perfectly cast as the would-be assassin: I would always have picked him as the actor most likely to assassinate a Republican president. His performance, in keeping with the slow-moving pace of the movie, is stunted, frustrating and irritating.

Hugely under-rated movie. Made..way back in 2004. Sean Penn plays Sam Bicke..a guy who is unraveling mentally during the course of this extremely well made and interesting film. Part of Sams problem is he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Yet he is fundamentally (almost obsessively) honest. When he starts to lose the important things..(marriage, job, respect), his mind enters free-fall. He has a fascination about the lies Richard Nixon told..so he could be President. What Sam does not understand is, its not only Nixon who is corrupt, but America. Eventually that truism also enters his slow intellect. From that point Sam needs to do something. O.K. he reasons i am only a grain of sand in this world..but i can be somebody. The movie has very few flaws and Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson are great in there supporting roles. I only heard about this movie a month ago (it was not a big hit), but, it is WAY above average. Penns performance is totally brilliant.

This quiet, powerful movie is loosely based on the real events. Samuel Bicke, meek and obedient person with the intense hidden anger, is slowly unraveling. His marriage is dissolving, he hates his job and his obnoxious boss, the bank loan for starting a new business is rejected. Typical story of a man without his place in this world. God knows, there are hundreds of millions of people like him on this unfortunate planet. But, something made this man stand apart and try to kill the president Nixon. The attempt itself would be called inane if innocent people weren't killed.The tragic ending to a sad life story. This intense movie uses a perfect language to tell this story, so pertinent to the times we live in.More and more lost souls, and the future looks far away from rosy. Millions of question and none of the answers.

The modern Taxi Driver.If this film had been released in the 70s alongside Taxi Driver and the likes of Coppola's The Conversation, it would have been much more acclaimed. Sadly, this one is now lost among the last decade of indie dramas, high-concept blockbusters and Sean Penn's two Oscar winning performances. His best work though, is here, as Sam Bicke. He's incredibly powerful, essentially carrying the film on his shoulders. He's in every single scene and there wasn't one time I looked away from the screen. There are several incredibly powerful moments but his breakdown at work ("It's about money Dick! Money!") is just staggering. Don Cheadle and Naomi Watts are also good in well written but obvious roles. The direction by Mueller is also brilliant, perfectly creating a feeling of isolation and failure. We feel like we're in the same position with Bicke, an outsider looking in on a world prepared to lie and back-stab in order to get to the top. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki (Y Tu Mama Tambien, The New World) is also brilliant and has the same effect, creating a dark world for its inhabitants. Finally the structure of the script along with the exemplary editing by Jay Cassidy creates a feeling of repetition - the endless cycle of day to day life that leads Bicke to his actions. A haunting, masterful drama, a modern masterpiece and successor and superior to Taxi Driver.