If you like the idea of a piece of historical narrative backed up by powerful characters, concerning a major event of recent history, to get you through these dark winter months, then you can do yourself proud with Frost/Nixon. Admittedly those requirements are rather unlikely to converge at one time, but if you’re interested in any of the above seperately, it would still be a good idea to go see Frost/Nixon, because it’s a damn good film.
I personally knew only of the Watergate scandal by name, having no idea what it entailed, and it’s quite likely that this affected my judgement of the film, although I wouldn’t say to any extent; a quick review of the film’s Wikipedia article raises some concerns about historical accuracy, but not that many and not any of significance. But the fact that I don’t know the names and places is irrelevent because they’re not important; this film has a cast of characters and backstory that all boils down to one historical event; wherein David Frost gets Richard Nixon to admit that he broke the law, engaged in a cover-up and let down his people.
Of course, that’s the climax of the film; we have to get there first. The film’s opening is simultaneously fast-paced and slow-paced; we’re instantly introduced to Frost and his idea for the interviews, but the actual preparing, finding funding and such delays their commencing until about halfway through the film. This is by no means bad, as this film draws a lot of power from its characters and this first hour gives us time to meet and sympathise with our characters.
So, we’ve got Michael Sheen, with a history of playing important political figures (if we can call Frost that at the time of the interviews), who plays our main-man interviewer. He’s introduced as an eminently likeable character; in particular, the scene on a plane where he meets his love interest for the film functions mainly as in introduction to his charm. This love-angle in particular doesn’t recieve much attention and for the most part develops off-screen, which is nice, as it means we don’t get tangled up in (pointless?) plot threads, but it means the lovely Rebecca Hall doesn’t get nearly as much screen time as she deserves, being instead delegated to a background character who cheers and groans where appropriate (which is the entire purpose of the character of Frost’s producer’s character as well).
Then there’s Frank Langella as Nixon, who so perfectly embodies the idea of the past president that it doesn’t matter that the two lack startling physical resemblance; everything from his understated mannerisms to occasional wry asides (in particular a running joke about Frost’s shoes which pays off brilliantly in the end) embodies Nixon. It’s actually quite astonishing – you have to wonder if Sam Rockwell’s character James Reston Jr’s stuttering awestruck greeting to the president, whom he despises, isn’t a sneaky shoutout to the efficiency of Langella’s characterisation. He’s been nominated for an Oscar for it, I believe, and as much as the Oscar’s don’t mean a bloody thing, I hope he wins it (though he’s up against the seriously overhyped Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler, so it’s not looking good – oh, and, er, Brad Pitt).
Sam Rockwell himself is astonishingly convincing in his character as well, but I may have a somewhat skewed opinion on the matter since the last time I saw him was when I recently re-watched the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an awful film in which he plays an awful rendition of Zaphod Beeblebrox. Compared to that this is material worthy of announcing him new Lord of the Universe.
It’s a good job our characters are so compelling, given that the film eventually becomes a two-person show when Frost and Nixon battle it out; having been trashed by Nixon in their initial interviews, Frost is on his last chance – a late night phonecall between the two spells out the stakes for us; one of them will go on to fame and glory, the other will not. So he finally digs in, having spent most of the film running round trying to do everything, he focuses instead, which nicely redeems his one irritating character trait in time for the final act, which is in every sense of the word epic. The area around them is dark, and there’s only Sheen and Langella there, but that’s all that’s needed. I won’t spoil the end for you, insofar as that’s possible when the ‘end’ is written in the history books – that’s not the point. It’s not about what happens, but why and how it happens, and if some things don’t make sense to me, some points are glossed over, or the middle section of the film with Nixon talking Frost into his grave goes on a little too long, it doesn’t matter, because in the end it’s worth it.
I really don’t have anything bad to say about this film. Another astonishing occurence.
Films According to the Profound 