Sean Penn is in fine form as he riffs lightly off Travis 'Taxi Driver' Bickle in this uneven drama, which is loosely based on real events. Set in 1974, a moustachioed Penn plays Samuel Bicke, a terribly inept salesman who is unable to stand up for himself or those around him. Separated from his wife (Naomi Watts) and his kids, Bicke spends his days kicking his heels selling overpriced office furniture, while being chastised by his smarmy boss (Jack Thompson). Articulating his rage about the world to his best pal, mechanic Bonny (Don Cheadle) and in a selection of spoken word tapes he bizarrely sends to composer Leonard Bernstein, Bicke tries to escape his deadbeat existence with half-brained business schemes. When he's knocked back once too often, our anti-hero gets it into his head that the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, is to blame for all of his woes...
While Penn is as compelling as always, giving a masterclass in abject defeatism, The Assassination of Richard Nixon doesn't quite match the range of its leading man. From the first time we meet Bicke, it's quite apparent that he's not exactly a well-adjusted member of society, but there's little sense of exploration of his character - either through his mental instability or what drives him to go to such extremes. For some reason, director Niels Mueller never reveals anything of Bicke's history and in the process, he fails to elaborate exactly what the thinking was in bringing the story of this pathetic, rather inconsequential man to the screen. The ultimate effect is that by refusing to commit his purpose, Mueller's film leaves his leading man's excellent performance in something of a vacuum.
