The Assassination of Richard Nixon recounts the heretofore untold story of Sam Bicke, an idealistic and unemployed salesman who channels his frustration at the effects of living in 70s America outward in a failed attempt to crash an airplane into the White House-and rid the world of Richard Nixon in the process.
The film, which chronicles the unfolding madness of Bicke (as portrayed by Sean Penn) is directed by Hollywood screenwriter Niels Mueller (Tadpole, 13 Going on 30) in his directorial debut, and boasts an all-star cast of actors (including Don Cheadle and Naomi Watts) who were attracted to the strength of the script.
Regarding his collaborators (including Mexican independent-cum-Harry Potter director Alfonso Cuaron, ex-film school pal Alexander Payne, and Leonardo DiCaprio as producers) and his actors, Mueller comments in a recent phone interview, “Look, any of those people, be it Alexander [Payne], he’s not going to get behind something that he doesn’t believe in script-wise, and as for the actors, you know, Don Cheadle’s not going to take a part if there’s not going to be something for him to respond to, especially with what this film paid-it’s a small, independent film, even in the material.
“But that said, I also had Sean Penn, who said that he wanted to make the film, so I was able to build the cast and crew around Sean Penn. People, for good reason, want to work with Sean.”
Indeed, Penn, who appears in every scene, carries the load of the film, appearing in every scene, and also gets a chance to portray an extremely complex character, whose naïve idealism is destroyed as the narrative unfolds. However extreme Bicke is, Mueller ensures that the ideas that Sam stands for (and that eventually drive him insane) aren’t necessarily bad-rather, it’s just the execution of his ideals.
“The world can be brighter for an idealist than it was for Sam,” notes Mueller. “I say that with understatement intended, but it’s a frustrating time to be an idealist. Whatever time in history you exist as an idealist you’re going to be swimming upstream-that’s just the nature of the game. As Sam Bicke says, ‘The meek shall not inherit the earth, the earth is controlled by the bullies who don’t care how they get to the top as long as they arrive.’ And hopefully there aren’t too many idealists like Sam. We don’t need that kind of idealism.”
Despite the film’s extremely grim subject matter, Mueller and Penn manage to squeeze out some extremely funny scenes by exploiting Sam’s earnestness and Penn’s deadpan delivery. One such moment in the film occurs as the protagonist proposes his allegiance to the Black Panther movement and thinks up a scheme to widen their base.
So far this element has gone largely unnoticed, and it’s something that Mueller hopes will change. “Sean’s one of the great comedic actors, period. And this film has an undercurrent of humour in it. My sound designer told me that the first month she worked on my film she thought it was the most depressing film she’d ever worked on, and then the last couple of months she said it was perhaps the greatest comedy she’d ever worked on. There’s stuff to enjoy all along the way.”
Although the genesis of the script pre-dates the events of 9/11, the film’s subject matter and correspondence to today’s America often results in extremely chilling scenes. In a lot of ways, this film acts as a coda to a particularly politicized moment in America and recent topical filmmaking. Additionally, the film’s setting in Nixon’s America has parallels to our own time and the current administration.
“It’s something that’s come up time and again as I’ve talked about the film, this sort of mirroring effect-Nixon’s America mirroring Bush’s or vice versa with Bush’s America mirroring Nixon’s. There are so many things within the film-take any random moment in the film that has its mirror in contemporary society and politics. [In that respect,] it’s sort of a cathartic film after the election.”
The Assassination of Richard Nixon is now playing at the Cumberland theatre.
