Frost/Nixon (****)

Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Matthew Macfadyen
Seen: March 2nd 2009

**** Out of ****

As someone who knows nothing about American politics, (I was not even born by the time events portrayed in the film transpired) and in general is not really interested in politics, I found this film to be fantastically gripping. Richard Nixon was the only American president to ever resign from the office, after being implicated in the Watergate scandal between 1972 and 1974, and being on the verge of impeachment. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued an all-encompassing pardon for any crimes Nixon might have committed while in office. Nixon, however, staunchly denied having done anything wrong, and the American public did not like that one bit.

Frank Langella and Michael Sheen played the roles of Richard Nixon and David Frost in the 2006 stage play, and reprise their roles in this film, as Ron Howard wouldn’t agree to direct the film with anyone else in the roles. Langella definitely deserves his academy award nomination for best actor, as his portrayal of Nixon (I’ve heard) embodies what the 37th president was, even though he doesn’t necessarily look the same. From what I’ve seen on screen, the raw power he brings to the role makes the screen blaze, especially in one scene, the late night call, which Nixon later in the film claims to know nothing about, it blew me away.

David Frost was a talk show host with shows in both Australia and Britain. One day after coming off a story he saw Nixon entering the helicopter that took him away from the White House one final time and started getting interested in Nixon, not from a political perspective, but purely from a ratings perspective. He knew he would get millions of viewers if he where to interview Nixon, and he managed to land the deal by partially paying for it out of his own pocket while no-one else would. He remained a play-boy though, running around town with Caroline Cushing (Hall), who he met on the flight to America, while his team compiled the interview for him. His team being John Birt (Macfadyen) his manager, Bob Zelnick (Platt), a veteran reporter, and James Reston Jr. (Rockwell), a man almost obsessed with bringing Nixon down, so much so that he opposes Frost in his cavalier approach to the subject.

This is all setup, yet it still manages to keep you glued to the screen by virtue of smart and passionate acting, lively editing, and just the right mix of subtle humour and seriousness. Never for one moment does this film feel like it changing into a documentary. As the interview starts, the film gets really fascinating, as these two men take each other on, with Nixon (or Tricky Dick, as some called him) completely controlling the whole thing. But Frost is more than just a talk show host, and he rises to the occasion in a way that must be seen to be fully appreciated, as I did, a lot.