When I first saw the trailer for Frost/Nixon, I knew the film would be in the running for Best Picture. The play upon which it is based won three Tony Awards, and its two leads — Michael Sheen (Frost) and Frank Langella (Nixon) — reprised their stage roles for the big screen. Add director Ron Howard and a first-rate supporting cast (Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall) into the mix and you have a recipe for success. I should caution you, however, that it's a long-simmering, slow to boil recipe that will be most savored when you have some time on your hands.
Frost/Nixon is over two hours long, and for about half of it I felt like I was watching The History Channel rather than a movie. As the plot revolves around British talk-show host David Frost's 1977 interviews with former President of the United States Richard Nixon, there of course had to some historical scene-setting upfront. And clearly we needed to see parts of the infamous interviews reenacted at the end. I just wish that the "story behind the story" had been paid a little more attention. The film was at its best when it focused on what Frost, Nixon, their friends, their families and their advisors were thinking and feeling in the weeks leading up to the monumental multi-day meetings.
For example, I loved having a front-row seat to Nixon and his agent Swifty Lazar's (Toby Jones) strategy sessions on how to wring a higher interview payment out of Frost. Hearing Nixon debate with his fiercely loyal confidante, chief of staff Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon), about Frost's curious choice of footwear was another memorable (and unexpectedly humorous) moment. Watching Frost put on a happy face time and time again, even as his financial backers were bailing and his research team was about to turn on him, provided immense insight into why he was able to pull the interviews off in the first place; the man just never gave up and could charm his way out of — or, in this case, into — almost any situation.
On that note, the performances of the Frost/Nixon cast are guaranteed to give you a greater appreciation for the craft of acting. Sheen and Langella are David Frost and Richard Nixon in this film. Two scenes that showcase the actors' embodiment of these men are the explosive and almost unbearably tense final interview in which Frost throws some curveballs at the ex-President, and the subdued last meeting between the two at Nixon's oceanside home before Frost returns to the UK. Perhaps that's why I felt like I was watching The History Channel — it was that hard to differentiate the actors from their real-life counterparts. (You can really see this in the DVD's bonus features, which include clips from the original interviews.)
While I wish it had been faster paced, I thoroughly enjoyed Frost/Nixon and would recommend it to anyone else who enjoys true stories of the political persuasion such as Charlie Wilson's War or Good Night, and Good Luck. Or to anyone who prefers Michael Sheen in human — rather than werewolf or vampire — form.
