Frost / Nixon: A stellar film for history buffs
a movie buff, into movies that tell a great story
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DEC
29
2008
The Six-Day War, Vietnam, Watergate are events you lived through, either up close and personal or through the play out of events at a short distance.
An additional benefit of the aging process is the development of perspective. Our champions of the past usually never prove to be as noble, while our villians often become less demonic with the passage of time.
With these benefits in mind I eagerly purchased my tickets to see Ron Howard's film Frost / Nixon this past weekend. The film was adapted from the hugely successful stage play by Peter Morgan by Morgan himself with the lead actors of the play Frank Langella and Michael Sheen reprising their roles of the stage production.
Sometimes stage plays just don't adapt well to the big screen. But this isn't the case here. If anything, I have to believe that this film production does the stage play one better. How? This story was made for the "close -up". For much of the film, the screen was taken up by a single actor, and in many cases just the face of that actor.
The Story Line
In 1977, David Frost was a British talk show host known more for his celebrity than journalistic talent. We're not talking about Jerry Springer or Maury Povich here, but there may be some evolutionary linkeages. David was considered a dandy and his career was in decline.
Richard Nixon of course was the disgraced 37th President who rather than be successfully impeached for his role in the Watergate break-in chose to be the only President to resign his office.
Frost develops a plan to produce a series of interviews with the former President with the intent to give him the trial he never received. The problem however was that no network was willing to buy his idea. To them, this was News and Frost was anything but a Newsman. Today, with the dilution of our news programming this probably would have been a cakewalk. But in 1977 this was a non-starter. Frost was forced to raise the $600,000 necessary to pay the former President himself and arrange for the syndication.
Back to the Film
Langella as Nixon turns out to be a masterstroke. Although the actor only vaguely resembles the President physically, he morphs into Richard Nixon before our very eyes. He completely captures the man's stature, mannerisms and at times his haunted appearance and tonality.
Sheen, although he portrays Frost as more of a dandy than I remember him to be, holds up his end of this pairing with great skill. It's hard to envy an actor that has to play opposite Frank Langella as Richard Nixon.
Although there's a small but fine supporting cast (Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Matthew Macfadyen), this is essentially a two actor film that succeeds at every level.
My Viewpoint
This is a film I plan to own. It's a film I'm sure I'll watch over and over again to take in and appreciate every nuance of the performances.
If you're a lover of historical films, this is an absolute must see. Langela's performance is going to be hard to beat come Acadamy Award time. See it!
Frost Nixon is recommended by RudiXeno
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