The Criterion Collection. Robert Altman's adaptation of the one-man stage play about former president Richard M. Nixon features a high-powered performance by Philip Baker Hall (MAGNOLIA) as the unraveling president. The dramatic dialogue takes place in Nixon's personal office shortly after his resignation--brought about by the Watergate scandal--where the fallen leader, in a drunken frenzy of self-justification and resentment, comments ascerbically on the various personalities and situations he encountered and bemoans his fate. His targets include presidents of the distant past, the Kennedy family, and leaders from other countries as well as anyone who ever doubted him in his quest to attain ultimate power. The only one who emerges unscathed is Nixon's mother, whom he continued to worship even after her passing.