Review of Frost/Nixon (2008) by Wayne K — 29 Jul 2017

Managing to do the seemingly impossible, making politics exciting, Ron Howard crafts one of his finest films in Frost/Nixon, centring on a duel between a smiling, optimistic TV presenter and a gruff, downtrodden former President.

As the films go along we see these men shapeshift, occasionally taking on each other attitudes, and experiencing a wealth of emotions that stem from conflicts not only with each other, but within themselves.

Sheen and Langella, who played their respective roles in the stage play, are clearly very comfortable in the parts, and their verbal toing and froing is where the film really shines. Langella draws out an inner confidence, borderline arrogance, from Nixon's dejected persona, and surprises us with his ease at defending himself while at his lowest time.

The movie takes a fair amount of artistic license, but what liberties are taken aren't there to pervert the facts of history, merely to enhance the drama. The supporting cast, including Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt, always reliable actors, serve the movie beautifully, and while they have plenty of great moments, the 2 leads truly steal the show, going head to head in a war of words, ethics and egos.

I didn't know much at all about the Frost/Nixon interviews, but now that I've seen this film I might just go away and watch them, and that's the sign of a truly great historic movie. It not only entertains you, it informs and deepens your desire to continue being informed.