Every line of dialogue in MARK FELT (written and directed by Peter Landesman)—a tightly wound drama about the Watergate break-in and cover-up, the FBI, Woodward and Bernstein’s “Deep Throat,” and the collapse of the Nixon Administration—is directed at the current electorate and its representatives in various legislatures, courts, and media: a step-by-step primer on the separation of powers and the efficacy of leaks in removing an Oval Office menace. (But does the elimination of a malignant tumor impede or abet the workings of a toxic system?)

MARK FELT—THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE, through October 19.

LAEMMLE PLAYHOUSE, 673 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena.

laemmle.com/films/42881

Through October 12:

LANDMARK, 10850 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Through October 5:

ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD, 6360 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

See John D. O’Connor, “I’m the Man They Call Deep Throat,” Vanity Fair, July 2005:

vanityfair.com/news/politics/2005/07/deepthroat200507

Liam Neeson as Mark Felt. Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics.