The Assassination of Richard Nixon
THINKFilm | Release Date: December 29, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
This is one of the rare movies to explore American materialism through the eyes of an all-too-ordinary person who isn't up to the challenges of everyday life. Read full review
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
What surprises us most is the picture's topicality, and not just because terrorists crashed a plane into the Pentagon three years ago. Read full review
88
PremiereAaron Hillis
The brilliant subtleties of this absorbing, must-see drama are best seen through Penn, who transforms a strongly nuanced script into the greatest performance of the year. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Does the film have a message? I don't think it wants one. It is about the journey of a man going mad. A film can simply be a character study, as this one is. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Director Niels Mueller's attempt to create a middle-class "Taxi Driver" (he tips his hand a bit smugly by respelling Byck's name to evoke Travis Bickle) has a creepy, meticulous exactitude. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
It's a deeply affecting performance, and it drives this quietly powerful, unrelenting film. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The movie re-creates Sam's miserable days with enough sympathy to come within hailing distance of such emblematic works of American disillusion as Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and Saul Bellow's "Seize the Day." Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Penn's lead performance is the main attraction here, and it's a fine piece of work--far superior to his overly showy Oscar-winning role last year. Read full review
80
EmpireAlan Morrison
Stark, bold drama. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
It features Sean Penn in a mesmerizing portrayal of the would-be hijacker. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This riveting film qualifies as the anti-crowd-pleaser -- but Penn makes it unthinkable to turn away. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A faithful portrait of a period in American social history. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Assassination reminds you that Penn can be very funny. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Re-creates the era convincingly, and, as usual, Penn is mesmerizing: a consummate movie actor at the peak of his game. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Comparisons to "Taxi Driver" are unavoidable and mostly unflattering to Mueller's film, but Assassination engages more directly with the political fissures of the time, which deeply divided the nation. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Moody, pretentious, but potent. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
First-time director Niels Mueller and his co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy depict Sam's disintegration expertly and they have fashioned a well-made picture with much to like. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Powerful, haunting, but ultimately disappointing. Few American movies address abject failure as forcefully as this one, and Sean Penn delivers an intense performance as Bicke. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Penn's Bicke is often so pitiable it's hard not to want to look away – but what else to expect from perhaps our most compulsively watchable contemporary actor? Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
See it for the star. Penn makes a film that in many respects feels low scale and ordinary into something painfully human and real. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is another movie where politics trump the narrative. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a tribute to Penn's talent and guts that he manages to bring it off--even if the movie doesn't. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A downer of a drama. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie doesn't make you care. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Sometimes, you'd swear he's (Penn) reprising his performance as a mentally handicapped man in "I Am Sam." Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
That The Assassination of Richard Nixon is as well directed, acted and shot as it is makes Mr. Mueller's inability to invest his film with significance all the more disappointing. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The director and co-writer, Niels Mueller, has also done his work well, but the film feels insubstantial at 95 minutes, even though -- or maybe because -- it bristles with borrowed ideas and unavoidable associations.
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Penn's magnetism and hesitant line delivery create what interest there is, although the whole picture suffers from a central figure who can never get it together on any level. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken Tucker
Penn is mostly in "I Am Sam mode" here, doing a lot of shoe-gazing and mumbly-talk, but not without adding an edge of bitter intelligence to his character; he's just too good an actor to merely repeat himself, even when the material encourages him to. Read full review
50
Film ThreatChris Barsanti
The primary problem with The Assassination of Richard Nixon comes in its attempts to make drama out of a minor man's minor stab at infamy. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Even if audiences can get by the tasteless shock title, it's tough to figure who will ever watch this movie - even when it's on cable. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute
This often gripping but also unremittingly grim and drab account of these events is a "Taxi Driver" without the cathartic finale. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A slight movie and a major downer, is an acting showcase for Sean Penn. That's good, but not enough. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
This is one of Penn's punishing, single-dimension performances, and it seems to be even more whiningly masochistic than what's called for in the script. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Unfortunately, the trajectory of Mueller and co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy's repetitive screenplay echoes "Taxi Driver" so closely as to invite unfavorable comparison with Martin Scorsese's benchmark chronicle of alienation. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Only moderately compelling. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The Assassination of Richard Nixon makes Bicke suffer the greatest indignity: it turns him into a relentless bore. Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It grinds on and on without mercy. You're in the cross hairs. There is no escape. Where is that Secret Service when you need it? Read full review
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