Check Out the Trailer

Peter Morgan’s play based on David Frost’s famed interview of Richard Nixon has been compellingly transported to the screen. Director Ron Howard takes a page from his CINDERELLA MAN playbook and uses a sports film engine to power this drama about two famous men engaging in a duel to revitalize their careers. One was a smiling British entertainment talk show host and the other was the disgraced President of the United States. Seems like Tyson-Douglas doesn’t it… at least Tyson-Douglas on paper before the fight actually took place.

David Frost (Michael Sheen, THE QUEEN) was doing a version of his talk show that was cancelled in the U.S. in Australia when Richard Nixon (Frank Langella, 1979’s DRACULA) resigned the presidency. Frost wanted to land an interview. Nixon’s agent Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones, THE PAINTED VEIL) saw dollar signs, while Nixon’s top advisor Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon, THE WOODSMAN) saw a chance to take puff questions from a hack and revitalize the former president’s image. Frost rushed into the deal with overconfidence, paying to lock down the interview with his own money before sponsors were locked. Though his main goal was entertainment, he still hired top researchers such as reporter Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt, THE HOAX) and author James Reston (Sam Rockwell, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND), who was determined to give Nixon the trial he never had. The chief job of producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen, PRIDE & PREJUDICE) was to keep the wolves at bay when the production started bleeding.

Howard builds tension as Frost plans for the extensive 12-day period of interviews. Frost is in over his head from the start and his blind optimism makes Zelnick and Reston nervous. Frost isn’t the only one risking everything on what many in the media felt was a sham. Sheen plays Frost as a pleasant hustler whose willing to take any criticism with a smile, and only lets his real emotions show behind closed doors. He’s also admittedly a little drunk with fame and power. For him the worst thing would be having tasted the success of America and never having the chance to do it again. He and the president had more in common than he thought.

Sheen’s Frost might turn out to be the star of the interview, but Langella is the star of the movie. He embodies Nixon without trying to imitate him. He plays him as a man who awkwardly deals with people on a personal level, but is a skilled debater when he steps out on the stage. Rockwell’s passionate Reston says, “there’s a reason they call him Tricky Dick.” Langella gives Nixon a sly tactical bent. Like a boxer, he is always measuring up his opponent, who he doesn’t view as an enemy, but simply his current adversary. It’s often hard to tell if Nixon is being cagey, earnest or clueless at any given time, which makes him all the more intimidating.

Howard takes a page from another cinematic true story, Bob Fosse’s LENNY about legendary comic Lenny Bruce, which wove interviews with the key players into the narrative. They give the film historical context right from the people involved. The whole film has a reflective quality not only about its two main characters, but its era as well. Frost’s paid interview was one of the first of its kind and it’s hard not to think about how news and entertainment have melded since then. The film doesn’t blame Frost for our insipid sound-bite culture, but simply presents this story making us think about how much things have changed. Frost filmed over 20 hours of footage and the TV show ran over several nights. Would a similar show with a current controversial leader be able to beat AMERICAN IDOL even if Ryan Seacrest was the interviewer? And would that current controversial leader discuss his rationale as honestly or as intelligently as Nixon did? The implications of the film are never overt, but notably poignant when reflected on nonetheless.

Howard has made some very good films in his career and this is one of his best. Langella deserves an Oscar nomination. It wouldn’t surprise me if this film will be nominated for an Oscar; it’s the kind of solid drama that Academy members can get behind. Historical dramas have a way of being about what they are about and about something current if you want them to be. Howard never gets preachy and is even handed about how he presents his subjects. He rightly presents the facts and lets the audience serve as the jury and give their own verdict on what it means.