Themes: Assassination Plots, Conspiracies, Heads of State
Main Cast: Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, Jack Thompson, Michael Wincott, Mykelti Williamson, Naomi Watts
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The true story of a man who, on February 22, 1974, was thwarted from an ambitious plan for political assassination provides the basis for this striking psychological drama. Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) is a salesman for an office-supply company whose life is slowly beginning to unravel. Bicke's job is going nowhere, his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), has left him, and his boss (Jack Thompson) keeps pushing self-help books on him that make a mockery of his state of mind. One of Bicke's few friends is Bonny Simmons (Don Cheadle), an auto mechanic, and together they come up with an idea for a tire shop on wheels; while neither has the money to finance the project, Bicke has learned of a program for small-business loans instituted by President Richard Nixon, which he's certain will come through for him. But Bicke is denied his loan, which dovetails with his increasing suspicion of the president's Vietnam policies and a sudden interest in the "by any means necessary" political activism of the Black Panther Party. Desperate to seem important in some way, Bicke becomes increasingly obsessed with the duplicity of Richard Nixon, until he chooses to take it upon himself to stop the president once and for all. The Assassination of Richard Nixon was the first feature film from director Niels Mueller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The Assassination of Richard Nixon is not really about Sam Bicke's little-known, confused, and wildly unsuccessful plan to actually assassinate Richard Nixon in early 1974. It's more about the psychology of a man driven to such acts -- and what specifically about America makes unstable men like Bicke feel pressured to take such incoherently desperate measures. Far more than a political or action thriller (though there's a little of that too, at the very end), it's the portrait of a loser who feels inadequate at every level of society: at work, at home, and most crucially, within himself. It takes an excellent actor to pull off such a role, and Sean Penn delivers with one of his best performances, his every shaky sentence, fearful glance, and defeated gait exuding fatalistic uncertainty. Along the way, Niels Mueller takes a hard, unflinching look at somber issues rarely dealt with in American movies, particularly the flexible ethics of the workplace, where barely-cutting-it schmoes like Sam Bicke are cut down at every turn, made to lie and feel lousy about themselves. It's that constant humiliation (a failed marriage to Naomi Watts doesn't help), more than any real articulate rage against Nixon or the political system, that fuels Penn's rather hysterical response to his situation. It's an unceasingly dreary world in which he's trapped, Mueller framing his protagonist's life almost exclusively in unappealing settings, such as the tacky furniture store where he works (typically poorly) as a salesman; the ramshackle house where his soon-to-be-ex-wife and family lives; the icily bureaucratic offices where his loan application languishes; and the tire stores and garages where he hatches his improbable scheme to launch his own business. The script wisely adds some touches of morbid humor (particularly in the scene where a clueless Penn tries to join the Black Panthers), and Don Cheadle is excellent in a supporting role as Penn's only friend (a relationship, naturally, that Penn utterly sabotages). It's too much of a downer (right down to the shoot-it-out ending) to have wide appeal, but it's a riveting look into the underside of the lives of those who lack the basic social skills necessary to enter even the lower American middle class. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Movie Guide
Samuel J. Bicke - (Penn) a salesman with a history of short-lived jobs. His name was changed in the film to avoid offending living relatives.
Marie Andersen Bicke - (Watts) Bicke's ex-wife.
Bonny Simmons - (Cheadle) Bicke's best friend and potential business partner.
Plot
When Bicke begins working for a furniture company, his boss Jack Jones (Jack Thompson) encourages him to become a better salesman by reading books such as Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, and listening to motivational audio tapes. Jones also tells Bicke that he thinks Richard Nixon is the greatest salesman since he sold the promise to end the Vietnam War twice to the American people and reneged on it each time, yet remained in power. In a perversion of the tapes his boss provides for him, Bicke is repeatedly shown explaining and justifying his actions into a tape recording which he intends to send to Leonard Bernstein, whose music he admires. Bicke often expresses a desire to be remembered for his work, like the Maestro.
Bicke has a business idea to start a mobile tire store, operating from a bus, with his friend Bonny. During an interview for a small business loan, he begins to rant about how his brother's tire business was dishonest and how he couldn't tolerate that. His unhappiness at his job grows, especially as Jones believes only in employing married men and Bicke is unable to convince Marie, his estranged wife, to pretend to be together for a company husbands-wives dinner. Bicke knows that his time at this company is running out and is relying on the small business loan being approved. He is unable to speed the process up when he arranges a meeting with the loan officer.
Watching the mailbox daily for a letter regarding the loan, he receives notification of the divorce from Marie and is upset that she didn't give them time to try to amend things. She has also moved in with another man. He receives a letter from the Small Business Administration (a United States government agency) notifying him that they have turned down his application. He believes this is because they are racist, knowing that Bonny would be a partner.
Without the loan, he resorts to trying to deceive one of his brother's tire suppliers into giving him tires so he can start his business. It is unsuccessful and his brother (Michael Wincott) is waiting in Bicke's apartment to confront him and inform him that Bonny has been arrested for receiving stolen goods. He descends into depression and paranoia, blaming all his troubles on then-president Richard Nixon. Inspired by news reports of the February 17, 1974, actions of Robert K. Preston (who buzzed the White House with a stolen helicopter), Bicke plans to hijack an aircraft and to crash it into the White House. Bicke is shown in his apartment practicing making his demands to the pilots.
Having completed his preparations, Bicke arrives at the airport and mails the tapes. Using Bonny's stolen pistol, he rushes into an aircraft when he fears his plan to get past the metal detectors and security won't work. He shoots an airport security policeman and both of the pilots (one fatally) before demanding that a female passenger help fly the plane. After being shot by a police officer through the plane door window, Bicke decides to commit suicide. The story of the hijacking eventually reaches the news, and the broadcast is seen on the televisions situated in the work places of Bonny and Marie; however, as they pass the television sets, they go about their business despite the fact that Bicke's name is mentioned. The film ends with the image of Bicke wandering his apartment with a toy airplane. Bicke's life is revealed to have been as anonymous and meaningless as he'd feared.
