All the President's Men (1976)

This highly regarded political thriller is a roller-coaster of a film, so hectic that at times it's hard to catch your breath. A dramatisation of real-life events - although understandably somewhat compressed and zapped-up for movie audiences - it follows Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman, pictured, left) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford, pictured right) as they doggedly uncover an extraordinary trail of coincidence and cover-up, emanating from what initially appears to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters in the run-up to the 1972 US elections.

There's no worries about a plot spoiler here, of course. We all know the ending of the film before it even starts, but the tight script, the bright lights of the newsroom, the gloom of the car park where we meet Deep Throat, Alan J Pakula's tight direction and Newman and Hoffman's strong performances keep you riveted to your seat. And if that wasn't enough, Jason Robards turns in a superb Oscar-winning support role as the Post's editor Ben Bradlee.