George Clooney Says This Movie Is “Perfect” Because You Already Know the Ending

Recently, speaking to Parade, Clooney shared his favorite movies from 1964 to 1976. He called this period “the greatest era in filmmaking by far.” He listed classics like Network, known for its famous “I’m mad as hell” scene, and Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s darkly funny take on nuclear war. But for him, the best movie of all was All the President’s Men.

“All the President’s Men really is a perfect film. And the reason it’s a perfect film is you start the movie knowing how it ends,” Clooney explained. “We know that Woodward and Bernstein get the scoop and Nixon gets got and you’re chewing your fingernails off through the whole movie.”

Released in 1976, the movie tells the story of the Watergate scandal, one of the biggest political scandals in recent American history. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who uncovered the story for The Washington Post. Their reporting eventually led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation, which is the only time a U.S. president has resigned. Making a movie about events that had happened just a few years earlier was risky, but it paid off.

All the President’s Men was loved by critics and audiences. It got eight Oscar nominations and won four awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards and Best Adapted Screenplay for William Goldman. In 2010, the Library of Congress chose it for preservation in its National Film Registry, showing it remains important even decades later.

The movie was praised for how it built tension even though viewers already knew what would happen. People liked the careful attention to detail, the way the story of the reporters’ investigation was told, and how the film showed the challenges journalists faced. The direction, acting, and script all worked together to keep audiences fully engaged, making it feel exciting and real.

Clooney’s love for the film reflects his admiration for movies from the 1960s and 1970s. Its combination of real-life drama, strong performances, and precise storytelling makes it a standout example of American cinema from that era.

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