Spotlight vs. All the President's Men

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4 comments

Hah, this one actually came up as a random match. It's your newspaper-procedural-drama-featuring-a-Ben-Bradlee... double feature ! I liked Spotlight, but this one isn't even close. AtPM is one of the best dramas of the 1970s.

Pretty close for me, but I'd say Hoffman and Redford make the difference.

"All the President's Men" is what "Spotlight" SHOULD have been. "All the President's Men" is factual throughout, but still maintained audience engagement with memorable lines and scenes ("Follow the money" and the ceiling pullaway shot at the Library of Congress to name some examples). "Spotlight" is so low-key and procedural in everything it does that NOTHING stands out and the film as a whole is unmemorable.

Two amazing movies about journalism. I have to go with Spotlight because its story is more engaging for me, and because is perfectly directed and performed.

Two hard edge movies about real, grounded investigative journalism. All The President's Men wins because its style is complimented is so many ways by its main cast and period it was released.

I give the edge to Spotlight...

All the Presiden'ts Men and Mad Max: Fury Road should've won Best Picture

All the President's Men and Mad Max: Fury Road should've won Best Picture over Rocky and Spotlight

However, Rocky and Spotlight are much better than All the President's Men and Mad Max: Fury Road respectively.

All the President's Men FTW!!!! Spotlight is pure Oscar bait

I loved both of these movies, but I got to give the win to All the President's Men. Spotlight tackles some pretty ugly themes with a lot of tact, and it made me pretty emotional by the end, but All the President's Men feels so tight despite closing in on being 2.5 hours.