Review of Frost/Nixon

Excellent Re-telling

Ron Howard's re-telling of the historic interview between David Frost and Richard Nixon in 1977 is surprisingly gripping. Like with Apollo 13, Howard manages to imbue tension and "what's going to happen next?" feeling into an event where we already know the outcome.

Though the interview proper is the meat of the movie, what makes it work is the back story of Frost's troubles in getting the show made and Nixon's desire to "get back into the game".

I love the cinematography - the light-filled but slightly bleached look really fits the period and the costumes are great.

Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon play well off one another but it is Langella that steals the show - he captures the dynamism of Nixon the man, a wily, shrewd politician who is a bit bruised and battered but determined to make his way back to ultimately being a defeated man. In the final scenes of the interview I forgot that I was seeing an actor and instead I was seeing the heart of Nixon.

Though much of the movie revolves around the two characters going head-to-head, the supporting roles played by Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt and Toby Jones as the slightly sleazy agent all add layers of believability to this movie.

The script also manages to inject humor in certain moments: Nixon going on about Frost's Italian shoes and Jim Reston's vehemence that he won't shake Nixon's hand but ends up doing it makes it a more balanced movie.

8/10

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Added by Vix 10 months ago on 3 January 2009 08:43