Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House

There is a whole generation of people who are totally unaware of the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. It also relates to what is relevant today concerning the 45th and the Russian involvement with our elections. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not take orders from the President, yet then as in now, the White House put pressure to stop an investigation. Director/writer Peter Landesman, based this feature on the 2006 autobiography of FBI agent Mark Felt, written with John O'Connor. Mark Felt (Liam Neeson) was the whistle blower that informed investigative reporters Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post to keep digging to unearth the truth and corruption.

Mark Felt, a 30 year career FBI man, was n associate director under Herbert Hoover and considered to be in the next in line for the job. The story begins with the death of Hoover who started the agency and ran it for 50 years. Hoover kept lots of files and notes over the years, so Felt moved quickly to destroy all of Hoover's personal records. Just as quickly, the White House comes in asking for the "secret files". But was really cutting was when Attorney General L. Patrick Gray (Marton Csokas) was placed as temporary director of the FBI. Felt sees him conferring with John Dean (Michael C. Hall). Suddenly Gray, the obvious White House mole, orders Felt to tie up Watergate break-in case in a couple of weeks. Felt begins to leak information to Sandy Smith (Bruce Greenwood) of the Times magazine to keep the story from being buried. He also becomes the notorious "Deep Throat" informant to the Washington Post which his identity was not revealed for years.

Diane Lane is Felt's brilliant, beautiful and troubled wife Audrey. She has endured 30 years and 30 transfers as his supporting spouse during his career. They have a daughter, Joan (Maika Monroe) who had disappeared in the counterculture and Felt fears it's with the Weather Underground which has been terrorizing in bombing incidents. He orders that suspected Underground members to be under illegal tape and surveillance, which later in life he pays the price, only to be pardoned by President Reagan. Considering this is supposed to be about the man who brought down the White House, the movie should have spent more time telling that story and less on the search for his daughter.

Unless one is familiar with the history and the players, it's hard to understand what is going on. The film has that 70's feel in costumes, sets and colors. The able supporting cast of Tony Goldwyn, Kate Walsh, Tom Sizemore, and Josh Lucas keep it serious and on track. Apparently most Diane Lane's scenes were cut due to time constraints. Which is unfortunate because what we see is magnificent, but you feel something is missing. The movie is a good nudge to today's political climate. It also will probably want to see All The President's Men for a better perspective.
(Review by reesa)