Directed by: Ron Howard
Written by: Peter Morgan
Produced by: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon
---History does not make for good entertainment very often. When it does there is typically a war involved and politics are certainly not the main focus. “Tricky Dick” Richard Nixon’s most infamous stunt was the Watergate Scandal, involving wiretapping and many civilian laws broken at a series of Democratic National Committee meetings at the Watergate Hotel. This was not a physical war but a political war that ended up in the first and only president to resign from office. Few attempts have been made to bring this to Hollywood. There has been a biographical style movie, “Nixon”, by Oliver Stone. Released on DVD on Tuesday April 21, “Frost/Nixon” tried to characterize the time after Richard Nixon left office. At this point it has grossed more than “Nixon” made and it is still in the spotlight.
---The film focuses on British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) and his attempts at getting Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) to sit down for a post-presidential interview. The film starts with Nixon leaving office after being tried for a battery of charges regarding the Watergate Scandal. Frost realizes that Nixon knows how to work the crowd and get out of actually making a confession; so he focuses on getting Nixon to admit that he was responsible for this act against democracy and to apologize. Eventually they all agree to terms and Frost interviews Nixon, at first with some difficulty, and gets Nixon to acquiesce to everything.
---Director Ron Howard, being known for his work “Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind”, is great at making anything full of emotion and emphasizing one or two characters. “Frost/Nixon” really focuses on Frost and Nixon. During some of the interview scenes you can see Frost really squirming trying to get a word in edgewise. Nixon is shown to be really focused on answering every question in order to get out of something that may condemn him. Lots of close ups were used which really added to the meaning of the film as a whole.
---The actors did a fantastic job with the characters they were hired to play. It would be incredibly easy to go wrong with a character like Nixon and make him seem very evil. Frank Langella played Nixon perfectly; someone who clearly has the ability to commit crimes but who also has a heart. Michael Sheen also played Frost up to all expectations. Sheen acted out a great talk show host and slick talker that is respectful to those he is around.
---Overall this movie was great for a non-war related political movie. I give it a 4 out of 5 for the acting and directing.
Written by: Peter Morgan
Produced by: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon
---History does not make for good entertainment very often. When it does there is typically a war involved and politics are certainly not the main focus. “Tricky Dick” Richard Nixon’s most infamous stunt was the Watergate Scandal, involving wiretapping and many civilian laws broken at a series of Democratic National Committee meetings at the Watergate Hotel. This was not a physical war but a political war that ended up in the first and only president to resign from office. Few attempts have been made to bring this to Hollywood. There has been a biographical style movie, “Nixon”, by Oliver Stone. Released on DVD on Tuesday April 21, “Frost/Nixon” tried to characterize the time after Richard Nixon left office. At this point it has grossed more than “Nixon” made and it is still in the spotlight.
---The film focuses on British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) and his attempts at getting Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) to sit down for a post-presidential interview. The film starts with Nixon leaving office after being tried for a battery of charges regarding the Watergate Scandal. Frost realizes that Nixon knows how to work the crowd and get out of actually making a confession; so he focuses on getting Nixon to admit that he was responsible for this act against democracy and to apologize. Eventually they all agree to terms and Frost interviews Nixon, at first with some difficulty, and gets Nixon to acquiesce to everything.
---Director Ron Howard, being known for his work “Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind”, is great at making anything full of emotion and emphasizing one or two characters. “Frost/Nixon” really focuses on Frost and Nixon. During some of the interview scenes you can see Frost really squirming trying to get a word in edgewise. Nixon is shown to be really focused on answering every question in order to get out of something that may condemn him. Lots of close ups were used which really added to the meaning of the film as a whole.
---The actors did a fantastic job with the characters they were hired to play. It would be incredibly easy to go wrong with a character like Nixon and make him seem very evil. Frank Langella played Nixon perfectly; someone who clearly has the ability to commit crimes but who also has a heart. Michael Sheen also played Frost up to all expectations. Sheen acted out a great talk show host and slick talker that is respectful to those he is around.
---Overall this movie was great for a non-war related political movie. I give it a 4 out of 5 for the acting and directing.
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