Klute

Alan J. Pakula, 1971 (8.2*)
Klute works because of one reason: the incredible performance of Jane Fonda, one of her two Oscar winning roles (Coming Home is the other). Here she plays a call girl who has possibly become the target of a stalker with a more devilish purpose than voyeurism, he's perhaps even a murderer. The suspense works because we don't really know for sure, we're as confused as Fonda's character Bree. Donald Sutherland plays a sympathetic detective, investigating a disappearance, who is slowly sucked into Bree's life as well as his client's. Fonda's sessions with her psychiatrist are likely what garnered her the Oscar, for she takes this film beyond an ordinary psycho crime drama.

Note: Eight actresses have won Oscars playing prostitutes (including Kim Basinger, Mira Sorvino, Shirley Jones), see the list at Worlds Best Films

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All the President's Men

Alan J. Pakula, 1972 (9*)
Based on the true story of Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who broke the story of Nixon's illegal directives, Watergate "Plumbers", and usurping of the Constitution, and which eventually led to his resignation to avoid impeachment. This is a tightly plotted film put together like a mystery-thriller, and stars an excellent cast, led by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, supported by Jason Robards as the Post editor Benjamin Bradley, who gave them license to dig into and run the story. Based on the Pulitzer-winning book, this is docudrama at its best, even knowing the eventual outcome doesn't spoil the suspense.

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