Frost/Nixon
directed by Ron Howard
written by Peter Morgan
based on the play by Peter Morgan
starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Kate Jennings Grant, Andy Milder
As author and reporter James Reston Jr. (Rockwell) says in this film, the entire Frost/Nixon interviews can be reduced to a single image. That image is a closeup of a deeply troubled Nixon (Langella) who has been pinned up against a wall and his face reveals that he has lost access to all the escape mechanisms that served his career so effectively. It’s a moment of pure poetry among many that provide this film with an elegance as it relates what was at the time the most viewed news program in American media history.
Nixon remains one of the most difficult public figures to grasp. Langella plays him with all the complexities that have always been associated with the man and the portrait seems ultimately to be both sympathetic and revealing of numerous personality flaws. What it doesn’t do is demonize Nixon or fully blame him for all the untoward actions he will forever be associated with. It merely sets out to shed light on a singularly famous series of interviews in which each actor plays his part with precision and skill.
The interviews themselves are staged as a battle of wits in which each participant brings their A game to the proceedings as they go toe-to-toe for a massive international audience of 400 million people. Nixon for his part considers the interviews to be something akin to a war between two worthy adversaries out for blood. He prepares himself therefore for such a furious contest and it’s evident in his eyes that he takes the event very seriously indeed. After all, it’s a chance for redemption in the eyes of the general public although one gets a clear impression that Nixon does not believe clarification is necessary.
The entire film is crystalized in the one question that is on everyone’s mind from the beginning. It’s the same question that disturbed anyone who was paying attention once the Watergate story exploded to sear everyone’s consciousness for ever and all time. It overshadows every accomplishment that has been attributed to Nixon and will forever smear his name in the minds of a considerable aspect of the population. Nixon is Watergate to his enemies and this fact is what Nixon attempts to undermine by even agreeing to the interviews. Or he merely wants to opportunity to reflect on his life and isn’t concerned with whatever fastballs David Frost (Sheen) might attempt to get past him. One is left with an impression that Nixon is ready for the onslaught and has prepared himself by nearly three decades of public service for any attempts by a mere talk show host to unnerve him.
The film is most certainly a personality contest between two men from greatly differing aspects of society. Nixon is a career politician who has made his name on enforcing specific delusions. Frost is a tested tv personality who is attempting to jack up his career even further and make his own name even more viable internationally. Both have certain things to lose although Nixon can’t exactly lose much more than he already has. He can only hope to rescue his name from the dregs of history although it seems through Langella’s performance that he’s resigned himself to a much less sanguine reality.
Michael Sheen plays Frost as manically charismatic presenter who always seems to be “on” and ready to face the cameras. Frost is almost a caricature of the slimy performer who lives their entire life as if they were being filmed. Yet it comes across as entirely genuine as if he truly does revel in all the commotion that is a necessary part of the lifestyle he has chosen for himself. He’s the dire opposite of Nixon who professes in this film to abhor social gatherings of any sort. He says he prefers the quietude of study to social interaction. It’s a telling expression of Nixon’s basic point of view. He fell out of favor with an age of youth and frantic physical activity and never quite reorientated himself to the new age.
This is not a sentimental film in any shape or form. It tells a simple story about one of the most scintillating moments in television history from the perspectives of those who were there to witness the carnage. Reston Jr., along with Bob Zelnick (Platt) have been hired to research and study Nixon’s career leading up to his ignoble political end. They are matched by Nixon’s post-presidential Chief-of-Staff Jack Brennan (Bacon) who ably readies Nixon for the interviewing process and scoffs whenever he feels Nixon might be being misrepresented. Specifically after Frost asks the seminal question Brennan bursts into the room and quashes the interview because he rightly senses that Nixon is about to allow his emotions to reveal too much information. Indeed, Nixon looks pained and slightly relieved and during the subsequent consultation with Brennan Nixon admits to being tired of lying.
This film hinges on the performances and they are all pitch perfect. Frank Langella perfects the tired, hunched over physiognomy of Nixon as well the subtle hypnotism of his voice. It’s a clearly defined portrait and it also manages to establish Nixon’s obvious intelligence and his felicity with language. This is an exceedingly complex subject replete with great emotional turmoil and grave uncertainty. Langella creates a character of great depth who cannot be reduced to a single event, no matter how personally damning it turned out to be. Nixon is flesh and bone here and as conflicted as one imagines the real man to be. Michael Sheen captures the essence of pure charisma coupled with occasional moments where his character seems rather lost. His Frost is clearly dedicated to uncovering a truth that no previous interviewer has managed to muster. It’s clear in his eyes as he zealously approaches his subject with full intent on coming out on top upon completion of the exchange. Sheen presents Frost as a solid, monumental talent who is a worthy adversary for his much maligned foe. Kevin Bacon demonstrates a tenacity that his character employs to great advantage throughout the film. Brennan is a bull dog and Bacon ensures that his toughness be prominently articulated at every turn. Sam Rockwell is excellent playing the grand sceptic who just wants to see Nixon fall flat on his ass. Rockwell has a smarmy quality throughout the film yet its relatively easy to take his character’s perspective from start to finish.
Overall, this film does everything it sets out to do. It creates two central characters who have more in common than it would initially appear. They are both exceedingly driven men with an overarching desire to win. Neither one wants to come out on the short end of their interaction nor to lose any ground. The film posits a Nixon who does seem tired of all the subterfuge that has plagued him ever since his involvement with the Watergate break in was questioned. The film makes a point about Nixon’s personal sense of guilt and the heaviness of the weight he carried around with him throughout his political career. Both Michael Sheen and Frank Langella give us portraits of two distinct trajectories. Frost’s star continued to ascend and Nixon dedicated himself to a writing career which saw him publish six books. As mentioned by Nixon it does seem that perhaps they should have switched places although It’s difficult to imagine Richard Nixon exuding the kind of indomitable energy required to successfully sell a tv chat show.
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