When Davies imagines Austin reading the editorial aloud, he makes it an act of malice. But this dour image... also becomes a charge from which Davies has to defend himself... To show that his movie won't blur under "a mist of tears," he needs to give flavor, color, liveliness, and energy to the lonely, miserable situations he evokes. The burden of pulling off this tonal maneuver ultimately falls less on Davies than on Nixon, who quickly becomes the movie's center of light, heat, and power.