"Frost/Nixon" Review - Written by TonyD

“Frost/Nixon”
2008
**** out of ****
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon


Out of the great underdog stories ever told – David and Goliath, Rocky and Apollo Creed, the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Average Joes and the Purple Cobras, Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell – there is one that is very seldom told – the story of David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.

Ron Howard’s new film, “Frost/Nixon,” is the frontrunner for Best Picture as it stands. There is no question about it. The film has everything that the audience wants. It has a great sense of humor without getting in the way of dramatic scenes. It has great performances by both the two headliners and the supporting cast. It’s artsy without being too artsy. It has a hero that is worth rooting for. And it’s one of the best films of the year.

“Frost/Nixon” begins with archive new clips of the burglaries that took place at the Watergate Hotel, where five men broke into the Democratic Party’s office to steal secrets. After the five men are found to be somewhat part of Nixon’s (Frank Langella) re-election campaign, two years later Nixon resigns from his presidency. David Frost, (Michael Sheen) a British television reporter who kept having his shows falling underneath him, decided that he would interview Nixon over the course of a few days and produce it independently.

At first, Nixon declines, but when Frost offers over half a million dollars, Nixon and his post-presidential Chief of Staff (Kevin Bacon) jump on the offer, thinking that Frost, being just a satirical television reporter, won’t hit him with hard questions. But they were dead wrong. Frost’s team of investigators – Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and James Reston, Jr. (Sam Rockwell) – and his producer (Matthew MacFadyen) convince Frost to give Nixon the trial that he never got. Over the course of the next four days of interviews, Frost tries to make Nixon admit to the Watergate scandal.

The film, based off the very popular Tony Award winning Broadway play, is a story that is worth watching more than once. There’s a lot here to enjoy. It is worth to watch this movie for the directing alone. Ron Howard does an excellent job balancing the story just right. Through the first three days of the interview, Ron Howard makes us watch Frost go through the difficulty of interviewing the President. Nixon knows what Frost is trying to do – and Frost jumps the gun by asking Nixon the first question: “Why didn’t he burn the tapes?”

Over the course of the next two days, Frost starts to find trouble asking him questions about a lot of Nixon’s successes because he is trying to get the audience to turn against the former President before he leads up to the Watergate questions. On the Eve before the fourth day, Nixon drunkenly calls an unprepared and hungry Frost and taunts him about the interview, telling Frost that he is going to lose the battle he is trying to fight. And it is this scene that sets us up for one hell of a great ending that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Like Rocky and Apollo Creed, Frost is destined to pin Nixon up against the corner.

I haven’t seen the original Broadway play, but I know of people who did. From what I hear, the screenplay, written by the original playwright Peter Morgan, really holds up well. Morgan did a lot of work researching for this script, and hopefully that hard work gets paid off with a golden statue.

Also back for the game are the two main actors, Frank Langella and Michael Sheen. During their performances on Broadway, they garnered a lot of attention and even Langella won a Tony Award for his performance. I have a feeling that he might win a lot more awards come this season. Michael Sheen does an excellent job at his role also. He has the kind of look that makes you want him to star in every film out there as the leading guy. He’s probably one of the best actors of his generation.

The supporting cast deserves a lot of mention also. Sam Rockwell gives his single best performance of his career as Frost’s lead investigator. This guy wants to see nothing but Nixon burn for everything that he’s done to the nation. He gives everything he has in this role. Another actor that deserves a notice is (the very underrated) Kevin Bacon, playing Nixon’s post-presidential Chief of Staff. He is very fun to watch, even though his role doesn’t become huge until the last half of the film. I don’t understand why he hasn’t won an Oscar yet. And in a role that shouldn’t have worked, Rebecca Hall plays Frost’s new lover in a subplot and does a great job at it. She’s not an entirely huge character, but she does a great job with what is given to her.

I originally wanted to hold off on this review until I saw the original interviews, but being that it is on Netflix as being on hold for a very long time, I figured I might of just post it. But “Frost/Nixon” as good as it’ll get this award season. Your top ten of the year will feel empty if you do not go see this film soon. (Actually, being that 2008 has been a pretty shitty year for films, it is probably very empty as it is. So that gives you more reason to go see it.)