10 Dark Films For Dark Times
5. The Assassination Of Richard Nixon
Sean Penn gives a chillingly believable performance as Samuel J Bicke, the salesman who in 1972 attempted to hijack a plane with the intention of crashing it into the White House.
If the name Bicke rings a bell, that’s because screenwriter Paul Schrader took inspiration from him when creating Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, which ought to tip you off to the character’s shaky mental state. Separated from his wife and such a hopeless schmuck he makes Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross look like a winner, Bicke is the butt of every workplace joke until he finds an outlet for his rage.
As his life spirals out of control, Bicke becomes obsessed with Richard Nixon whose apparent ability to get away with telling lies (the film takes place after Nixon’s re-election but before Watergate) is in marked contrast to Bicke’s failures to set up in business. With Nixon firmly fixed in his mind as the one responsible for his problems, he boards a plane carrying a stolen gun.