Frost/Nixon, l'heure de vérité

I almost skipped "Frost/Nixon," and I am glad I didn't. It's eminently worthwhile, one of the year's few films that deserves to be seen.

My reluctance had to do with the expectation that it will offer nothing new to somebody who lived through the Watergate years and saw the Frost interviews (although remembering surprisingly little of them).

Ron Howard's film is anything but ho-hum - if anything it's a bit too gussied up to be exciting. There is an element of discernible manipulation of the audience, but mostly it works, and you don't long resist it.

The (relatively) unsung hero of the film besides Howard, Frank Langella's tremendous Nixon, and Michael Sheen's excellent Frost is the screenwriter: once again Peter Morgan (of "The Last King of Scotland" and "The Queen") engages mind and heart, and doesn't let go. Sam Rockwell's James Reston, Jr. and Oliver Platt's Bob Zelnick (Frost's two collaborators) are outstanding, and Kevin Bacon's Nixon-worshipping Jack Brennan is the actor's best work in a long time.

Morgan and Howard manage to make the viewer think constantly of another criminal President without saying or showing anything overt - they just let history, past and present, speak.

I had a strange, uncomfortable thought watching "Frost/Nixon": even if some future film "humanizes" (not excuses) Bush the way Nixon comes through this one, W. would still remain a malevolent midget against Nixon's accomplishments and actual *brain*. How far we have fallen.

The sole reason I did not watch this in the cinema two years ago was that I could not find a theater near me that played it, and I was, as I am now, a busy student. That caused me to have to take breaks in my viewing of it, and I have to say, it was not easy to do so. It is, simply put, immensely gripping, and the ending is pitch perfect. I haven't seen the play, but I understand that this expands upon the people around the two who were engaged in the verbal boxing match, especially Cushing. The two leads are the same, and I can get behind getting them to do both versions. They are immensely talented(they had the material so committed to memory that they only flubbed once each), and Sheen is an absolute chameleon, disappearing entirely into what he portrays(I can just barely believe that he played Lucian in the Underworld trilogy... great job in those, by the way). The cast is fantastic, and everyone really delves into their credible and swiftly developed characters. This manages to not paint anyone as a one-note good or bad guy, and I have to admit, I did not feel any sympathy for the former president before this film. The acting is amazing. Dialog is excellent. A little of it was improvised; so was most of the camera-work, and it helps make it feel dynamic and natural. This builds tension rather well. The drama is compelling. There is a short sequence of disturbing content, infrequent strong language and brief nudity in this. The DVD comes with an informational commentary track by Howard, a well-done 23 minute behind-the-scenes production, 22 and a half minutes of deleted scenes, and two well-made featurettes of 7 and a half minutes(about the real interview) and six minutes(about the Nixon library), respectively. I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. 8/10

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context.....

Truly... An Historic Encounter of 2 great personaliies... Presented with panache and gripping dramatic flare!

The morning after the Watergate break-in, I brought the newspaper to my university, showing the brief article to everyone who would look. "Tricky Dick is at the bottom of this" I insisted..."NO! He wouldn't be that Stupid!" most of them replied.

In Nixon/Frost we get an insightful look at a gifted, multi-faceted, conflicted personality in all its haunting glory. Nixon was many things. Stupid was not one of them. A Ron Howard Movie about a TV interview? I was very skeptical, to say the least. One single viewing made me a true believer.

Ron Howard has crafted an instant Classic masterpiece. Ripe with couched metaphors and subtle tripwire dialogue, the film's power flows from Ron Howard's ability to present us with the cinematic equivalent of a 100 minute TV close-up of its title characters. Frost/Nixon turns a microscope on both Nixon's strengths and a shopping list of inner demons. Simultaneously vindictive, petty, rancorous, insecure and ever ready to play the victim, more than anything else, Frank Langella's uncanny performance evokes not any hatred, but great pathos.

History is replete with flawed geniuses. But only during the past half century or so... has there been a media obsessed with exposing them for the entire world to see. Michael Sheen is inspired as David Frost, undergoing a great onscreen catharsis. And the re-creation of the interviews is sublime! Cleverly and convincingly Presented as two deftly talented sparring partners, Frost/Nixon is an immensely entertaining/informative slice of history that should satisfy even the most discerning cinematic gourmet.

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA! 9*********

Peter Morgan adapted his wonderful stage play Frost/Nixon for film with tremendous success. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon, it tells the behind-the-scenes story of the famous series of interviews.

For all many of us who lived through the Nixon presidency and Watergate, this is not the stuff of nostalgia or happy reminiscence. And when the Nixon tapes were published and his bigotry against just about everyone was revealed in explicit "expletive deleted" language, it was time to get disgusted all over again.

Here, portrayed by Frank Langella, we see Nixon as a lonely, vulnerable, angry, and bitter human being, a man who's made a bed he must sleep in for the next twenty years. We also see a manipulative and highly intelligent individual who, despite a great deal of success, had no self-worth. It's the feeling of being an outsider, of never being good enough, that led him to some atrocious decisions.

It's Langella's performance and Michael Sheen's wonderful performance as David Frost -- playboy, comedian, talk show host, and party-giver turned investigative journalist -- that anchor "Frost/Nixon." They are given great support by Kevin Bacon as Nixon's protective assistant, Jack Brennan, Sam Rockwell as James Reston, determined that Nixon pay for Watergate, as well as Oliver Platt, Matthew Mcfadyen, and Toby Jones.

I found the determination of Frost as he attempted to raise financing for the interviews and get networks interested -- with no luck -- very admirable and inspiring. And his gut instinct paid off for him big time.

I transcribed an interview with Nixon that took place in his home in the 1980s, as well as a speech he made during one of the Presidential election periods. He was a brilliant speaker, and as an interviewee, when the interview was over, he engaged the reporter in a very friendly personal conversation.

In the end, both those listening experiences made me sad, as did this film. For everything he achieved, Richard Nixon had undeveloped gifts and potential. He robbed the world of a lot more than the ability to trust government. But in the end, as the film shows, he robbed himself the most.

A remarkable performance by Frank Langella as Richard Nixon transforms this unexpected Ron Howard film into a gripping and unforgettable experience. The behind the scenes of the famous David Frost, Richard Nixon interviews pale in comparison to the compelling sight of Nixon/Langella thinking. It was difficult to forget that Michael Sheen was not Tony Blair but David Frost. Sheen's Frost is an entertaining foil to Langella's somber,sad, desolate portrait of the former president. Ron Howard finds a winning pace giving the true tale a fictional slant. Unfortunately I never saw the stage production and the film never betrays its theatrical origins. In a bizarre sort of way this is Ron Howard's most cinematic film. I highly recommend it.