Hopkins doesn't look and sound exactly like the real Richard Nixon. That wasn't the aim of the movie. It is an artistic attempt to probe into the inner mind of a man who became one of the most powerful men in the world, and it stands as one of he most underrated American movies of all time.
"I'm really disappointed we're getting so much negative debate on this"
Clay Shaw
Agreed. Although actually do think Hopkins was incredible in the role.
shareExactly. Stone even mentions some historical liberties he took in the film; for instance, Nixon would NOT have gone to meet CIA Director Helms at Langley, but would rather have summoned him to the Oval Office. Similarly, that big meeting with Kissinger and everyone else where he hammers down his Vietnam policy would have been done in two or three-person meetings over the course of months, not with 10 people crowding the Oval Office and all talking at once.
Why film it the way he did? Because all those meetings would have been boring to watch and made the film 20 hours long. Stone was trying (successfully) to make an interesting movie.