In 18 1/2, a dark comedy that sends up the paranoid thriller genre, we’re back in the vortex of the 1973-74 Watergate scandal. A low-level government clerical worker (an excellent Willa Fitzgerald) finds herself in possession of the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate Tapes. She’s trying to find the best way to leak it to the press. Double crosses and red herrings escalate, as does the dark, dark humor. The paranoia finally morphs into over-the-top horror movie silliness and a neo-noir epilogue.
Of course, co-writers Daniel Moya and Dan Mirvish (who directed 18 1/2) had to devise a way to get this notorious MacGuffin into her hands; given the paranoia, deviousness and clumsiness of the Nixon White House, their solution is surprisingly plausible. I am a Watergate buff, and their device passed my smell test.
To review American scandal history, the 18 1/2 minute gap was a national obsession between November 1973 and August 1974. Investigators had subpoenaed the tape recordings of various Oval Office conversations, seeking evidence of White House involvement in the Watergate burglary or its coverup. The tape of a key Nixon conversation showed up with 18 1/2 minutes in the middle ERASED. The presumption was that the content of the gap was highly incriminating, and it was very likely that Nixon himself, or someone acting at his direction, obstructed justice by erasing the tape. The White House explanation, that Nixon’s secretary Rose Mary Woods had contorted her body to accidentally erase the tape, was laughable. When another tape, the “Smoking Gun”, came to light in August 1974, Nixon was forced to resign.
Willa Fitzgerald is very good as the somberly earnest protagonist. Her sudden burst of lust signals 18 1/2‘s shift into pedal-to-the-medal parody
Two of my favorite character actors, Richard Kind and Vondie Curtis-Hall sparkle in supporting roles.
Kind plays the operator of a remote motel, just enough of an eccentric oddball to make the audience think he may be unhinged. You’ll recognize Richard Kind, a reliable character actor and voice artist with 263 screen credits. My favorite Richard Kind performance was the moving portrayal of a man seeking closure after the death of his wife in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter. I also love his recent lead role in Auggie.
Curtis-Hall gets to bypass unhinged on his way to monstrous. He and Catharine Curtin play an older couple of relentless sociability. The revelation of his true character is the keystone to the parody. BTW not many actors have been in as many good movies as has Curtis-Hall: Mystery Train, Passion Fish, Crooklyn, Gridlock’d, Eve’s Bayou, Honeydripper, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Blue Bayou.
I screened 18 1/2 earlier this year at Cinequest, where it was the Opening Night film 18 1/2 opens in theaters this weekend, including at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center and soon the Glendale and the NoHo 7.