Frost/Nixon
FROST/NIXONÂ (15)
D: Ron Howard
Universal/Imagine/Working Title (Ron Howard, Brian
Grazer, Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner)
USA/UK/France 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 2008
122 mins
Drama/Historical
W: Peter Morgan [based on his
play]
DP: Salvatore Totino
Ed: Mike Hill & Dan Hanley
Mus: Hans Zimmer
PD: Michael Corenblith
Michael Sheen (David
Frost), Frank Langella (Richard Nixon), Kevin Bacon (Jack Brennan), Rebecca Hall (Caroline Cushing), Toby Jones (Swifty Lazar), Matthew McFadyen (John Birt),
Oliver Platt (Bob Zelnick), Sam Rockwell (James Reston, Jr.)
Much more entertaining than the title would suggest,
Ron Howard's film is a dramatisation of a real-life interview which occurred in 1977 between up-and-coming TV personality David Frost and disgraced US president Richard
Nixon.
Nixon had remained silent in the years following his
resignation, but people wanted to know the truth, but it was almost impossible to procure without the possibility of TV journalists damaging their own reputations, so Frost was treading
on eggshells in his approach to, and conduct during, the infamous showdown.
This isn't without the usual romanticised Hollywood
gloss but plays out really well, with taut, low-key direction from Ron Howard. It isn't imperative to the plot to possess knowledge of the Watergate scandal or the truths about the
Vietnam War, but it helps if you know a little about the background.
Frank Langella delivers a first class performance as
Tricky Dicky and Michael Sheen also give a credible account as the intrepid young journalist.
On the DVD bonus menu, it's also worth watching
excerpts from the real-life interview for comparison.
8/10
