In The Assassination of Richard Nixon, a fictionalized version of the events, Sean Penn plays Samuel Bicke, failed husband, failed salesman, a miserable schlub so completely wrapped up in his naïve idealism that he is incapable of coping with simple harsh realities. The film opens with Bicke taking a job as an office furniture salesman, and we learn that he has bounced from sales job to sales job. Bicke hates lies, but in his line of work, lying is not given a second thought; in fact, it is expected. In an uncomfortable amusing scene, Bicke applies for a loan from the Small Business Association. Going on about his previous employment, Bicke asks the loan officer who always got the big promotion, the bonus, all the rewards, to which the officer replies, “the one who met his sales margin?” Bicke quickly corrects him: “the biggest liar.”

Bicke is also a failed husband and father. He all but stalks his ex-wife, Marie (Watts), making her life miserable. He shows up at her home, at her job, not to harass her, just to be there. His kids seem to barely acknowledge him, not even giving their father the courtesy of standing still for a picture before walking away. While Bicke hates lies, when it comes to his wife he is quick to stretch the truth. He still calls Marie his wife (they are separated, and she sends his divorce papers through the mail), and when Jack Jones, Bicke’s boss, asks him if Bicke and Marie would like to join Jack and his wife for dinner, Bicke tells him that Marie would love it, knowing that she wants nothing to do with him.

Anyone who has taken a Psyche 101 class knows that the things we hate about other people are usually the things we hate about ourselves. President Nixon becomes a symbol for Bicke, a beacon of all the lies, corruption and despair he sees around him, in his job, the government, the people around him. Nixon is seen as the ultimate salesman. As Jack Jones says early on, “He promised us something. He didn’t deliver. And he got reelected by promising us the same thing all over again.” Nixon, like Bicke, is a friendless loner, unwavering in his view of the way things should be. Bicke makes bizarre tape recordings and sends them to Leonard Bernstein, detailing his plans. Nixon himself was done in by his infatuation with tape recording. (The real Byck actually did send rambling tape recording to Bernstein, his idol, and Jonas Salk, among others.) The similarities between the two men are not lost on Bicke, and this only drives him crazier.

Despite the film’s total immersion in Bicke’s obsessions, his rage and bitterness, The Assassination of Richard Nixon is not a total downer. Some of it is actually quite funny. When Bicke sees Black Panther Fred Hampton on television, he goes down to a Black Panther office and tries to join. To say too much here would be spoil it, but the scene is absolutely hilarious. Some of the more colorful events of Bicke’s life – picketing in front of the White House in a Santa suit, for instance – have been left out, probably for the best, but there is plenty of humor, even if it is a bit uncomfortable at times. The scene where he applies for a loan is funny in a sad kind of way. The joke seems to be on Bicke, who cannot succeed no matter what he does. Bicke fails with the kind of stunning incompetence that has characterized his life. He does not even get off the ground. And like Nixon, when things get tough, Bicke puts the gun to his head and… resigns.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon is an actor’s piece all the way, and Sean Penn nails the performance here, and it may be his best ever. He manages to make all of Bicke’s rage and frustration, all of it boiling under the surface, clearly visible to us. Penn’s is a virtuoso performance. Samuel Bicke is the kind of role that could have easily been taken over the top, but Penn executes just the right tone. Bicke can be hard to watch at times, but Penn makes him almost endearing. There is something of Bicke in all of us.