Frost/Nixon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Frank Langella, Michael SheenBrand: Nixon
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
Published: 2009-04-01
DVD Release Date: 2009-04-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Frost/Nixon
Movie Review: an epic battle of wills
Summary: 5 Stars
Never having seen Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon" on stage, I can't speak to how much it may have gained or lost on its way to the big screen. I can, however, state that, in its latest incarnation, this is one humdinger of a political drama, as poignant as it is suspenseful, as intimate as it is wide-ranging.
The story centers around the famous series of interviews that David Frost conducted with Richard Nixon in the spring of 1977, nearly three years after Nixon had been forced to resign in disgrace from the office of President of the United States. This is the encounter in which Nixon famously declared, "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal" - as clear-cut and definitive an acknowlegement of the corrupting infuence of power as one could ever possibly expect from a politician.
Morgan and director Ron Howard have taken full advantage of the new medium, giving the material room to breathe by opening it out beyond the restricted confines of the interview setting to the world at large. We go back and forth between London and Los Angeles, visiting key points of interest - The Beverly Hills Hotel, Nixon's home in California, etc. - along the way. This also means that more time can be devoted to the earlier stages of the story, including Frost's often desperate attempts to secure financing for the project, and the efforts both sides expend on brainstorming and strategizing for the final showdown.
And quite a showdown it turns out to be, for at its heart "Frost/Nixon" is really an account of a fascinating, take-no-prisoners duel between two evenly matched opponents with diametrically contradictory goals. For Frost - a British entertainer who had, up to that point, made his name as a variety/talk show host in England and Australia and who was known primarily for his international-playboy antics off the set - these interviews would be his big chance to definitively establish, before a worldwide audience, his bona fides as a serious journalist, hopefully by making a disgraced ex-President wither under the glare of hardball questioning. For Richard Nixon, this seemed the golden opportunity to finally begin what would be a long and grueling process of rehabilitating his reputation and his legacy in the eyes of the public and of burnishing his place in history.
Thus, with so much at stake, both men are seen throughout the movie trying their best to manipulate the interviews and indeed each other to their own advantage. Keenly aware that only one of them can ultimately emerge victorious from the encounter, these two intellectual prizefighters jockey for position and power, sniffing out their opponent's weaknesses and vulnerabilities while playing intricately developed mind games on one another in the hopes of gaining the upper hand. Yet, oddly, as is usually the case in such situations, these two opponents actually discover that they have more in common with one another than they have differences that separate them.
For all its excellences of cinematography, editing and direction, "Frost/Nixon" is still, at its core and in deference to its theatrical roots, an "actors' picture," with Michael Sheen and Frank Langella brilliantly reprising the roles they created on stage. Langella never falls into the trap of relying solely on mimicry to capture the essence of a well-known and easily caricatured public figure. Instead, he allows us to see the subtle machinations of a man long adept at pulling the levers of power by manipulating events and other individuals to his own advantage. Yet, at the same time, he shows us the gentler, more human side of a man wracked by loneliness and his innate lack of likeability, who certainly didn't set out in life to become a tragic figure but who, through a lack of a clear moral compass, ended up that way anyway. Sheen more than fulfills the promise he demonstrated playing Tony Blair in "The Queen," making of Frost a good-natured but shrewd creature of the limelight who learns right quick that he needs to be wary of how a trapped beast will react when he's pushed into a corner with no way out. The beauty of the film is that, for all its emphasis on competitiveness and antagonism, it still manages to convey the mutual respect and even camaraderie that eventually came to define the relationship between the two men.
These two towering performers are nicely complemented by similarly impressive work by Kevin Bacon as Nixon's loyal aide, Rebecca Hall as Frost's latest girlfriend, and Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt as anti-Nixon zealots brought in to help Frost craft the questions he's going to ask.
Of course, as with most docudramas, it's often hard to tell which events are strictly factual (i.e. docu) and which have been made up or distorted for the sake of the drama. There is one glaring anachronism, for instance, when the filmmakers show Frost heading off to the premiere of "The Slipper and the Rose" - a movie he helped finance - on the eve of the first interview in March 1977 when the movie was actually released in late 1976. And I`m sure there are plenty more, much less innocuous fabrications that those closer to the subject could easily point out. Yet, no matter how much liberty it may take with the facts, "Frost/Nixon" turns relatively recent history into a riveting drama that has many pertinent things to say to the world today.
Summary of Frost/Nixon
From Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard comes the electrifying, untold story behind one of the most unforgettable moments in history. When disgraced President Richard Nixon agreed to an interview with jet-setting television personality, David Frost, he thought he?d found the key to saving his tarnished legacy. But, with a name to make and a reputation to overcome, Frost became one of Nixon?s most formidable adversaries and engaged the leader in a charged battle of wits that changed the face of politics forever. Featuring brilliant portrayals by Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, Frost/Nixon is the fascinating and suspenseful story of truth, accountability, secrets and lies.Sounds like a good match: a historical drama from the author of The Queen, but with an American subject in the generational wheelhouse of director Ron Howard. And so Peter Morgan's Tony-winning play morphs into a Hollywood movie under the wing of the Apollo 13 guy. Morgan's subject is a curious moment of post-Watergate shakeout: British TV host David Frost's long-form interviews with ex-President Richard Nixon, conducted in 1977. It was a big ratings success at the time, justifying the somewhat controversial decision to cut an enormous check for Nixon's services. The movie adds a mockumentary note to the otherwise straightforward style, having direct-to-camera addresses from various aides to Frost and Nixon (played by the likes of Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Bacon); these basically tell us things we already glean from the rest of the movie, adding unnecessary melodrama and upping the stakes. In this curious scheme, the success of Frost's career, which could bellyflop if he doesn't get something worthwhile out of the cagey, long-winded Nixon, is given somewhat more weight than the actual revelations of the interviews. Even with these questionable storytelling decisions, there's still the spectacle of two actors going at it hammer and tongs, and on that level the movie offers some heat. Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair not only in The Queen but also in another Morgan-scripted project, The Deal, is adept at catching David Frost's blow-dried charm, as well as the determination beneath it. Frank Langella's physical performance as Nixon is superb, and he certainly can be a commanding actor, though veteran Nixon-watchers might find that he misses a certain depth of self-pity in the man. Both actors were retained from the original stage production, a rare thing in Hollywood--and probably Howard's best decision of the project. --Robert Horton
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