FFR Searches for its Antiperspirant in Ron Howard's Epic Interview Frost/Nixon
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Ron Howard helms this interesting film paradox – a stage to screen adaptation of a two man play concerning a political television interview!  The premise may not sound too appealing at first, but from the first few minutes in, Frost/Nixon proves to be a thought- provoking and revelatory entertainment.  Based upon the true-life series of videotaped interviews by British television personality David Frost of controversial former American President Richard Nixon, the film is a powerful study of two distinctly different men that end up sharing the same spotlight. Michael Sheen portrays David Frost, a playboy television celebrity “across the pond” whose regular Q & A subjects are pop musicians and movie stars.  He plots an out of left field exclusive interview with Richard Nixon, which would bring the disgraced leader out of the shadows as well as further his own popularity.  After a few tense negotiations, Nixon agrees – under certain conditions.
Nixon wants to make it perfectly clear that he is in it to win it.
Frank Langella transforms into a fantastic facsimile of “Tricky Dick” as if it was the role he was born to play.  Calculating and regal, Langella’s command performance strengthens the entire picture’s integrity – propelling the mundane premise into something more than expected.  His Nixon is a money-hungry egomaniac, whose self-righteousness becomes slowly eclipsed by a growing sense of loneliness and guilt. In short time, the flashy TV star gets his man for a series of four two-hour sessions, each with predetermined topics to discuss, and with a skew toward “Nixon: The Man”.  The president and his top handler (Kevin Bacon) hope to utilize the program to renew Nixon’s popularity and pave the way for his possible return to politics.  Frost at first agrees to the careful handling of his subject, but is persuaded to think otherwise when his research team hopes to give Nixon “the trial that he never had”. After the first two sessions become puff pieces, Frost has a change of heart – and goes for the jugular. The historical events are of course dramatically altered for entertainment value, and the film has trouble deciding which leg to stand on.  But the ironic way in which the story is presented is its strongest suit.  Here, a foreign pop culture icon ends up risking his fame and fortune in an attempt to undermine an ex-president of another country, whose popularity is already less than zero.  Across the room sits a stubborn statesman who seeks to endear himself to his confused country, and only ends up confessing his sins to a man he considers beneath him – and a Brit at that.  As the two trade words, they also swap characteristics at times, and there are inevitably moments when their separate agendas are indiscernible.  It is this examination of man’s intentions and eventual actions that serves as the moral magnetic north to which Howard’s directorial compass points.  Frost/Nixon shows us two sides of the same tarnished coin; its power lies not in which side lands face up, but in seeing how it spins.
Walt is Senior Writer for www.featurefilmreview.com. Email comments to walter (at) featurefilmreview (dot) com.
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