Frost/Nixon: Fictional Look At Famous Interview
Langella and Sheen Star in Historical Drama
Frank Langella (Good Night, and Good Luck) earned an Academy Award nomination for portraying President Richard Nixon and British actor Michael Sheen (The Queen) starred as English talk show host David Frost.
The cast also included Oliver Platt as Bob Zelnik, Kevin Bacon as Nixon’s chief-of-staff Jack Brennan and Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr.
Frost/Nixon was adapted from a play written by Peter Morgan, who wrote the screenplay for the film, and Academy Award winning director Ron Howard took the director’s seat for this politically supercharged film.
Frost and Zelnik characterized the interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon as “an intellectual Rocky” in their 2007 book, because the action is centered on a series of intellectually intense conversations between the two men.
They are two intelligent, desperate men discussing one of the most controversial presidential administrations of the 20th century. Frost is desperate to make a good interview and get back his financial investment while Nixon is desperate to put the controversy behind him.
Langella brilliantly portrayed Nixon, changing his demeanor and looks to muse the ex-president, while Sheen pompously, yet charmingly encapsulated the arrogant television star realizing he may be in over his head.
Howard's style of directing a film manages to elicit a fondness for characters and forces the audience to invest emotional stock in what happens as the drama unfolds. In Frost/Nixon, he did not disappoint.
Frost/Nixon is Fictionalized for Audience’s Entertainment
The real footage from the Frost/Nixon interviews are known for the visceral and emotional reactions from Nixon on questions to Vietnam, Watergate and his resignation from office. And not unlike a scene from the film, Nixon drops his guard.
Over 28 hours of footage was filmed between the two and that was later edited into four 90-minute episodes. The interviews are credited by many as bringing credibility and answers to the controversies perpetrated by the Nixon administration.
At one point Nixon said he "let the American people down,” by trying to cover up the 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Convention headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.
In one scene of the film – that is a factual portion of the footage from 1977 – Nixon admits some guilt when he exclaims: “I’m saying when the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.”
While some of the scenes depict what truly happened, other parts of the film were fictionalized to augment the potential for cinematic entertainment. In an interview with CNN in January 2009 Frost said, “There is 10 percent of fiction in the film, which no doubt improves the film. But what they got, they got…right absolutely.”
One of the fabricated scenes in Frost/Nixon is when Nixon makes a drunken phone call to Frost the night before their final interview. This never happened, admitted Frost.
Copies of the real Frost and Nixon interview are now available on DVD.
Enjoyable rating: 9 out of 10 for brilliant performances and an exciting film with two major figures.
Running time: 122 minutes
MPAA rating: Rated R for some language
Cast:
- Frank Langella as Richard Nixon
- Michael Sheen as David Frost
- Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr.
- Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan
- Oliver Platt as Bob Zelnick
If you enjoy Frost/Nixon, you'll also enjoy: All the President's Men and Nixon
Frost/Nixon on DVD
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