Frost/Nixon (***1/2)

FROST/NIXON
Directed by Ron Howard



***1/2

Frost/Nixon is not the first film to showcase the most infamous president in American history, but its probably the best. Nixon is such a mystical figure in political folklore, as well as a physical representation of the phrase: "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Directed by television icon, turned filmmaking veteran Ron Howard, the audience is given a bird's eye view of the legendary interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon which went about solidifying the former president's disreputable reputation.

The film opens with Nixon (magically captured by Frank Langella) while giving his resignation speech. With his stature tarnished by the Watergate scandal, Nixon escaped from the presidency, and then orchestrated the now famous "crooked deal" with incumbent president Gerald Ford who granted Nixon a pardon suspiciously quickly. The country celebrated the departure of the unbelievably unpopular president, but there were many who were bitter that he was given a virtual get-out-of-jail-free card. Commiting the biggest political crime in history, Nixon would never stand trial.

On the other side of the world, there is David Frost (again, magically captured by Michael Sheen), who hosts a talk show in Austrailia. He wants to interview Nixon for his show. Frost was never a man known for his political leanings, nor had he ever made devisive statements about Nixon. Frost was known as a womanizer, whose interviewees were mostly members of pop culture. So what does Frost want with Nixon? Ratings--big, glorious ratings. With the help of his producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), he hires two crack investigators (Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt) to give his interview bite. They want him to drive Nixon into the ground, but Frost's priorities seem to be a little more commercial.

Nixon agrees to these interviews, for more than one reason. For one, Frost promised a direct payment of $600,000, but more importantly, Nixon saw the flaky Frost as his ticket back into the respect of the American people. Many of his colleagues, including his cheif of staff Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon), tell him that his elloquence and intellectual ability can make mincemeat out of Frost's inquisition, and convince audiences that he is not the corrupted monster he was pictured to be.

The interview scenes are expertly executed, as the showdown between Frost and Nixon is the most captivating part of the film. Ron Howard, the lovable, Oscar-winning director, creates such an intense atmosphere when the two men sit in front of each other. The film manages to replicate the shocking interviews almost entirely, while still giving them more life and drama. Behind Frost were a group of men who desperately wanted to see Nixon brought face to face with his crimes, and when Frost delivers, both in the real thing and in this film, it is quite an exhilarating experience.

Sure, Howard decides to take the spectacular, theatrical way of telling the story, as apposed to a fly-on-the-wall, realistic approach, but it makes sense because the character of Nixon is always going to be something of high drama. What point does Howard have telling the story sensibly when not one man in it is sensible? Both Frost and Nixon were larger than life, and the film certainly represents them as so.

The film is based on the hit stage play of the same name by Peter Morgan. Morgan wrote the screenplay, and does a great job of taking away that long, stretched-out feel that most play-to-films have. The film has some of the most fluid editing of the year, with its 122 minutes flying by without seeming rushed. It posesses a visual style which switches between polished, scenic shots and long, steadicam movement but never seems uneven. It's a calling card of most Ron Howard movies that things are executed incredibly precisely, and Frost/Nixon is no different.

The reason those interview scenes are so captivating, is because Frost/Nixon possesses one of the greatest dual performances I've ever seen. So rarely have I seen two actors, playing entirely different characters, possess the skin of the ones they play so perfectly, while never once blinking in front of the other. Michael Sheen, also brilliant as Tony Blair in The Queen, captures the masquerading essence of David Frost so completely, while never becoming a true hero to root for. Langella, who one a Tony for the same role on the stage, doesn't necessarily look or sound like Nixon, but he really lives in it. He embodies the idiosyncracies of Tricky Dick; his clever sense of humor and the foreboding paranoia.

Other than a slow start, I loved virtually everything about this movie. Even the supporting roles by Rockwell, Platt, and Bacon are fantastic, distributing laughs and gravitas in equal measure. In an age where an incredibly unpopular president is about to depart the White House, this film is particularly relevant today. One of the beauties of American society, is that anyone, despite stature or rank, can be held accountable for their actions. Nixon (like another president we know) was a man who felt that the power of the presidency gave him rights that no other Americans had, gave him the power to break the law and cover it up. Frost/Nixon is a picture-perfect representation about the disintegration of that man.