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

In the bonus track of the DVD of "Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House," the film's writer-director Peter Landesman, described enthusiastically how he attempted to depict in the story of lifelong FBI official Mark Felt as "the self-sacrifice of heroism in the face of massive corruption." But for many reasons, Landesman, a talented writer and director, failed to evoke a cinematic superhero in Mark Felt.First, the production values of the film were dark, gloomy, and depressing. Landesman used an antique anamorphic camera lens in the effort to evoke the early 1970s and an aura of suspense. But the results were downright depressing. It was odd that in the bonus track, one of the performers described the 1970s as an exciting time to be alive. But the look of the film resembled a morgue and an ashen-faced Liam Neeson taking on the aura of a galvanized corpse.Second, the overall treatment of the Watergate scandal was superficially treated. The film artists described the environment of the FBI as "black and white" when in fact there were many shades of grey. The men in suits in this film were uniformly depicted as thugs, as opposed to the clean-cut and impeccably dressed men of the Hoover era. The film actually took on the feel of "The Godfather." Third, the film suffered from the subplot of Mark Felt's family, including his marriage to a Lady Macbeth-type wife (Diane Lane) and a daughter who, understandably, had fled home to live in a California commune in Ben Lomand in the wilds of Northern California. Kudos to young Joan for figuring out her parents and making an early exit!Above all, the film failed to probe deeply into the Watergate scandal itself. It was not one man who brought down the president, as the film tried to project. It is likely that after Nixon's trip to China, the intelligence network had had enough of Nixon, and Watergate was the "silent coup" involving multiple participants in the intelligence community, who saw the removal of Nixon from office as being in the best interests of the nation.One of the most important lines in the film was the assertion that "the FBI is an independent body," as opposed to a branch of the federal government that is part of the Department of Justice. The filmmakers missed a golden opportunity to use the story of Mark Felt as an example of how in the years following World War II and continuing to the present, we really have four branches of our government: the executive, the legislative, the judicial, and, as is all too apparent today, the national security network.

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 tooguyz if u love spy things then watch it now

Mark Felt The Man Who Brought Down The White House: Written and Directed by Peter LandesmanFrom the director of Parkland and Concussion comes the story of the man who was Deep Throat for the Washington Post to help bring down the Nixon administration. He is played by infamous ass kicker Liam Neeson. This is a more understated role than the usual action fare that he stars in. This is a role that seems like it would have been played by Clint Eastwood in the 90s. He still has a very commanding presence and his character is a very straight and narrow old school FBI agent. It makes what he does in the end so out of character. But the problem with this movie is it is missing large chunks of the story. It spends a large portion of the time focusing on the Watergate break in and the complete undermining of the investigation from the White House. You get brief glimpses of his home life but right in the middle of the movie it changes focus to his home life. It feels like they took two different stories and instead of blending them together, it tells one story and then it starts on a completely different one entirely. It is very disjointed. Then it switches back to the first story in time to thoroughly confuse the audience. It reminded me a lot of this director's movie Concussion where it starts on one story and changes courswe midway through with a very deflated ending. This movie despite having the magnetic Liam Neeson at its center is really sort of bland. I give this movie a D.

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.