Frost/Nixon
Movie Review
Movie Review
I can just hear Horatio Caine set the scene; "Right, talk to me people, what have we got here? It looks like something big went down in this room. Two chairs facing each other, TV equipment. Send those drinking glasses to forensics for DNA and fingerprint analysis. Gentlemen, it looks like we're dealing with... an interview." Cue howling intro music. And here you have the problem with a film like Frost/Nixon; how does a director stop a dialogue heavy, action light event from descending into a yawn-inducing talking heads piece? If you're Ron Howard, it seems the answer is; with ease.
Frost/Nixon is based on the series of interviews between the two men shortly after Nixon had left the White House in disgrace. I say "based on" because, although the vast majority of events are factually accurate, Howard has tweaked the characters and scenario in a number of ways - including an imagined late night phone call between the Frost and Nixon - to heighten the drama. Hollywood loves a good story, and if there isn't one there to begin with they'll push a lever and twist a dial until one comes into focus. That's how it's always been.
This is the role that will make Michael Sheen a name actor. His Frost is scripted as a playboy, more suited to nailing women in bed than Nixon in an interview chair. His primary goal in taking on the interviews is restoring his reputation across the Atlantic. This perceived lack of credibility is mirrored in Sheen's characterisation. There's a Frost impression wrapped up in Alan Partridge mimicry; but it works, and well.
Frank Langella plays Nixon superbly. Langella manages to portray an overall sense of the man - his hunched over body language and social awkwardness - without descending into a jowel wobbling pastiche. His Nixon is a man who drove himself to the White House through pure determination, the same instinct which led to his downfall. His need for a sense of purpose, and to once again prove himself against a great opponent - which is what he tries to make of Frost - is what pushes him to accept the interviews. Langella's role is undoubtedly the most fun. He gets the best of both worlds; shuffling around as the Monty Burns to Sheen's Homer Simpson whilst also popping up to deliver the most comedic lines of the movie.
Final cast mention needs to go to the Frost support team. Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and Matthew Macfadyen play the trio who helped the interviewer gather the goods on the ex-president. All excel, but Rockwell is sublime as the Nixon author James Reston Jr., whose sense of outrage at Frost's apparent indifference to the outcome of the interviews grows scene by scene.
Howard has crafted a vocal Rumble in the Jungle, so get your front row seat for my Best Movie 2009 Oscar pick before its theatrical run ends.
Frost/Nixon is based on the series of interviews between the two men shortly after Nixon had left the White House in disgrace. I say "based on" because, although the vast majority of events are factually accurate, Howard has tweaked the characters and scenario in a number of ways - including an imagined late night phone call between the Frost and Nixon - to heighten the drama. Hollywood loves a good story, and if there isn't one there to begin with they'll push a lever and twist a dial until one comes into focus. That's how it's always been.
This is the role that will make Michael Sheen a name actor. His Frost is scripted as a playboy, more suited to nailing women in bed than Nixon in an interview chair. His primary goal in taking on the interviews is restoring his reputation across the Atlantic. This perceived lack of credibility is mirrored in Sheen's characterisation. There's a Frost impression wrapped up in Alan Partridge mimicry; but it works, and well.
Frank Langella plays Nixon superbly. Langella manages to portray an overall sense of the man - his hunched over body language and social awkwardness - without descending into a jowel wobbling pastiche. His Nixon is a man who drove himself to the White House through pure determination, the same instinct which led to his downfall. His need for a sense of purpose, and to once again prove himself against a great opponent - which is what he tries to make of Frost - is what pushes him to accept the interviews. Langella's role is undoubtedly the most fun. He gets the best of both worlds; shuffling around as the Monty Burns to Sheen's Homer Simpson whilst also popping up to deliver the most comedic lines of the movie.
Final cast mention needs to go to the Frost support team. Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and Matthew Macfadyen play the trio who helped the interviewer gather the goods on the ex-president. All excel, but Rockwell is sublime as the Nixon author James Reston Jr., whose sense of outrage at Frost's apparent indifference to the outcome of the interviews grows scene by scene.
Howard has crafted a vocal Rumble in the Jungle, so get your front row seat for my Best Movie 2009 Oscar pick before its theatrical run ends.
9/10
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