Secret Honor

Philip Baker Hall, who barely resembles Richard M. Nixon, delivers a virtuoso performance as the sole cast member in this fictional account of the former President's inner turmoil. Nixon wanders around his study (the film's only set) reminiscing. He speaks fondly of his family but fumes and shakes angrily at the thought of Henry Kissinger, Eisenhower, and the entire Kennedy clan. In short, Hall gives one of the finest performances put on film in recent memory--he is utterly mesmerizing. Robert Altman's direction, however, is unremarkable; he has simply filmed a stage play. In an unsuccessful attempt to make SECRET HONOR cinematic, he has installed four video monito...