I fell entirely alone in this, but I don't like "All the President's Men" at all, and I've never seen what the fuss is about. The whole thing is the two of them running around and talking on phones while Dustin Hoffman frantically yells "My notes! It's all right here in my notes!" and then it ends abruptly and puts all the actual action in pre-credit text cards. Snore.
Which is all to say, Butch and Sundance all the way.
Without "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," there wouldn't be the Robert Redford we know. Not just the other great movies that rolled out of that star-making performance. Not just the perfect teaming with Paul Newman. But also the outlaw spirit that animated Redford's drive to produce movies, direct movies, and create the Sundance Institute to give other storytellers a place to develop work that breaks the rules and pushes the boundaries of filmmaking in the United States and around the world.
Only those choices? I think I prefer the sting. I just watched “barefoot in the park” what a gem. And I have “3 days of the condor” from my local library waiting to watch this rainy 3day weekend. My personal favorite Redford to recommend to people is “All is Lost” what’s. Great film focused on this one great leading man v nature and no supporting cast. Phenomenal coda to his long career. In this poll I choose all the presidents men (reluctantly and flawed)
ATPM. Such a disciplined, un-showy performance. He couldn’t suppress his good looks, but he shut down the charm and became the fact gathering machine that the real Bob Woodward (who I’ve met several times) was and is.
I also spent time around Bernstein and Ben Bradlee. Shout out to Jason Robards who was as spot on as Bradlee as Hank’s was off-target playing the same man in The Post.
And, if necessary, please fill in any blind spot and spread the word on All Is Lost. A master class in film acting by a master.
Jim Campbell - 2 months ago
Both are brilliant, but Butch left audiences thoroughly entertained while enjoying a great story. Presidents left many depressed with a sense of gloom and now leaving many of us wishing journalists could be like them now.
In Sundance, Redford fairly shimmers. But in President's Men he's all kinds of mystified as a terrible fog of conspiracy descends over him and Bernstein and us. I love his confusion, curiosity, and consternation. The perplexity is half the point, and Redford plays it beautifully across a range of notes: jumping to conclusions, backfilling gaps with facts, asking questions like a four-year-old. It's not so much the "taste for the jugular" he's accused of – he just really needs to know. You can almost hear his pulse racing.
Brett (from Newton, Mass.) - 2 months ago
I don't think the Death Match format is needed here. While these two are two of his most Important roles, I think a poll with 5-8 options, plus other, would have been more shallowly flawed. For my money, and recency bias comes into play because I just rewatched it about a week ago, Three Days of the Condor is his best performance. I think you could also put in The Sting, Jeremiah Johnson (probably the most Redfordish performance), The Natural, The Way We Were (maybe), and All Is Lost, if not one or two more. But I can live with voting for Redford as Woodward.
Just two options!?
C’mon man!
The Sting!!!
I fell entirely alone in this, but I don't like "All the President's Men" at all, and I've never seen what the fuss is about. The whole thing is the two of them running around and talking on phones while Dustin Hoffman frantically yells "My notes! It's all right here in my notes!" and then it ends abruptly and puts all the actual action in pre-credit text cards. Snore.
Which is all to say, Butch and Sundance all the way.
Without "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," there wouldn't be the Robert Redford we know. Not just the other great movies that rolled out of that star-making performance. Not just the perfect teaming with Paul Newman. But also the outlaw spirit that animated Redford's drive to produce movies, direct movies, and create the Sundance Institute to give other storytellers a place to develop work that breaks the rules and pushes the boundaries of filmmaking in the United States and around the world.
Only those choices? I think I prefer the sting. I just watched “barefoot in the park” what a gem. And I have “3 days of the condor” from my local library waiting to watch this rainy 3day weekend. My personal favorite Redford to recommend to people is “All is Lost” what’s. Great film focused on this one great leading man v nature and no supporting cast. Phenomenal coda to his long career. In this poll I choose all the presidents men (reluctantly and flawed)
ATPM. Such a disciplined, un-showy performance. He couldn’t suppress his good looks, but he shut down the charm and became the fact gathering machine that the real Bob Woodward (who I’ve met several times) was and is.
I also spent time around Bernstein and Ben Bradlee. Shout out to Jason Robards who was as spot on as Bradlee as Hank’s was off-target playing the same man in The Post.
And, if necessary, please fill in any blind spot and spread the word on All Is Lost. A master class in film acting by a master.
Both are brilliant, but Butch left audiences thoroughly entertained while enjoying a great story. Presidents left many depressed with a sense of gloom and now leaving many of us wishing journalists could be like them now.
In Sundance, Redford fairly shimmers. But in President's Men he's all kinds of mystified as a terrible fog of conspiracy descends over him and Bernstein and us. I love his confusion, curiosity, and consternation. The perplexity is half the point, and Redford plays it beautifully across a range of notes: jumping to conclusions, backfilling gaps with facts, asking questions like a four-year-old. It's not so much the "taste for the jugular" he's accused of – he just really needs to know. You can almost hear his pulse racing.
I don't think the Death Match format is needed here. While these two are two of his most Important roles, I think a poll with 5-8 options, plus other, would have been more shallowly flawed. For my money, and recency bias comes into play because I just rewatched it about a week ago, Three Days of the Condor is his best performance. I think you could also put in The Sting, Jeremiah Johnson (probably the most Redfordish performance), The Natural, The Way We Were (maybe), and All Is Lost, if not one or two more. But I can live with voting for Redford as Woodward.