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Frost/Nixon review

Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 26 January 2014 09:55

This is a very entertainingly dramatic film that's got a lot going on. The casting choices are absolutely lovely.


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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 19 January 2011 09:44

I'm not a big fan of Ron Howard but he remains a solid director and the buzz surrounding this flick was very good so I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, he did a great job on this movie and, in my opinion, it is easily the best movie Howard has made so far. Indeed, I have always had a weak spot for movies dealing with politics and this story was just really fascinating. To start with, Frank Langella and Michael sheen were both at the top of their game and the rest of the cast was also pretty good (Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones). This time, Ron Howard decided to go for a sober directing style and it really worked like a charm, especially if you compare it to the disappointing blockbuster extravaganza he gave with his previous directing effort, ‘The DaVinci Code’. Basically, it is a damned entertaining flick and, in my opinion, it gives you a great insight on one of the most controversial historical figures that ever lived. Of course, there is always the very old argument that not everything was 100% accurate (as a matter of fact, the phone conversation at midnight between Frost and Nixon never actually happened) but, if the directing is fine, if the acting is fine, I seriously don’t really care and there is absolutely no such thing as a 100% accurate retelling of a historical event. Anyway, I really loved this flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.



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Frost/Nixon

Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 6 September 2010 02:37

Frost/Nixon is a thoroughly engrossing battle of wits, a film that could've easily been a dry and caricatured re-staging of David Frost's interview with President Richard Nixon, yet manages to enter the thriller realm, and admirably so. Ron Howard's direction, Peter Morgan's screenplay, and the performances given by Frank Langella and Michael Sheen turn an entirely dialogue-based film into a nail-biting experience that depicts the interview which concluded with Nixon's final admission of guilt for the illegal acts he committed during his administration. The movie effectively maintains the audience engaged by slightly fictionalizing some details, but without straying too far from the facts.

I was shocked by the fact that this film has a 2-hour running time; the interview scenes make Frost/Nixon such an intense experience that they make the time pass very quickly. What's interesting is that the way the tone of the interviews unfolds and ends up shifting is quite conventional: initially, Nixon (Langella) undoubtedly has the upper hand, going on long, eloquent rants, preventing the seemingly helpless Frost (Sheen) from digging into the former President and asking him questions that would make him sweat. In fact, Howard's film suggests that Nixon accepted doing the interview because he thought that Frost was not journalistically savvy enough to break him - prior to the interview, Nixon's advisor Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) reassures the former president that "there's no catch" to the interview and that "it'll be a big, wet kiss," and later even tells him that "Frost is not in [Nixon's] intellectual class," and it certainly seems that way until the final day of interviewing, when the tables are turned. Some may be skeptical of Frost's sudden spurt of assertiveness and his ability to finally get Nixon to sweat and ultimately give in to admitting that he made some monumental mistakes, but in its slight fictionalizing, the film tries to come up with an explanation for said transformation on the journalist's part. Before that final day of the interview, there is a scene in which a drunk Nixon calls Frost late at night and, predictably, reveals more than he would have in a sober state. This prompts Frost to do some research that ultimately materializes into new evidence against the former president. Right before cameras start rolling for the final interview, Frost mentions the late-night call, which a disoriented Nixon seems not to recall, thus initiating the turbulent climax to this enthralling on-screen duel.

Obviously, the phone call scene IS the film's turning point, and some may have qualms as to whether or not this is going too far in terms of fictionalization, but the thing is that when a movie that is chronicling a historic event doesn't have all of the puzzle pieces, the filmmakers HAVE to use their imagination to fill in the gaps, and I think they do it decently here. The phone call scene isn't necessarily reflective of what actually happened, nor it is necessarily the most effective way to justify Frost's ability to suddenly get the upper hand, but I still give Howard and Morgan credit for inventiveness that doesn't stretch the lines of credulity. I will point out, though, that all the prefacing during the first half hour or so of the film, which introduces us to Frost the TV personality and depicts the logistics of arranging the interview, is certainly necessary but goes on longer than it should. A lighthearted moment involving Oliver Platt's character's rendition of Nixon is appreciated in terms of amusement but does little to further the plot and seems misplaced in a film like this. These initial scenes aren't poorly crafted, but it just seems like they more than delay the supremely entertaining interview scenes, which are certainly the meat of the film. In addition, there's a scene later in the film in which Nixon is playing the piano and wife Pat enters the room to ask how the interviews are going, and when she is told they are going well, she responds "That is so gratifying," and not only does this moment feel unnecessary and out of place in the film, but it is also delivered unconvincingly by the actress playing Mrs. Nixon.

One of the reasons why, as I said, the prefacing about Frost as a person isn't all that necessary is because Michael Sheen does a good enough job at portraying Frost's breezy, diligent personality that we don't really need all of those other details. The smiling fierceness that Sheen brings to Frost is more than enough to make us believe his ability to finally get Nixon to break (however, I was more impressed with Sheen's performance two years ago in The Queen, a very authentic impersonation of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair). For all of Sheen's good work, though, this is Langella's film. The veteran actor has every facial expression, every aspect of the voice, every nervous tick down, and is amazingly convincing as Nixon. Even more incredibly, towards the end of the film, Langella succeeds in getting us to sympathize with the character, despite our awareness of all the wrongdoing committed by the actual man. Langella is a lock for an Oscar nomination.

Ron Howard chooses to go for a sort-of documentary approach by having "confessionals" in which the film's supporting characters give their take on what is happening, as a way to give us an idea of what the secondary figures in the duel between Frost and Nixon were thinking - while this doesn't really help the film much in terms of giving it an authentic documentary-style look, it does help with keeping the minor characters in the film from being mere flies on the wall with no development whatsoever as real people. Still, the film's focus remains on the two title characters, and because of that, Frost/Nixon largely succeeds in portraying a riveting war of words.


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Very good but didn't deserve Best Picture nod...

Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 1 January 2010 11:16

Frost/Nixon is a film that I really enjoyed from start to finish. I am not a strong admirer or political films at all but this is one I actually enjoyed. It is a film that I don't think could have been better told than it was in this film. Frost/Nixon is one of those films that I don't think that many people would appreciate because of the political dialogue or they might find it uninteresting and boring. I really enjoyed this film and I don't think there was anything wrong with it. Sometimes, with political films I can't really explain what flaws one has but there aren't any in this film.


Frank Langella's performance as Richard Nixon was absolutely fantastic! He made a brilliant impression of Nixon. He has like a Darth Vader-like voice which is very deep and croaky but can understand. I was totally gripped of Nixon's relationship with Frost. Langella deserved Oscar nomination but Pitt, Penn and especially Rourke were better in my opinion. Langella will probably be better than Hopkins as Nixon but Langella portrays Nixon almost like he really was Nixon. Michael Sheen is a really good actor. His performance as David Frost was very good. He was snubbed for Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 81st Academy Awards. If he wasn't in it, I don't think I would have felt the close combination between Nixon and Frost in this film.


Ron Howard's direction of Frost/Nixon is very different from every other film he has done. Howard has always been a director of creating films of a similar sort of feeling. Well, inspiring and heartwarming in his case (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, How The Grinch Stole Christmas). The script was absolutely fantastic! Best Adapted Screenplay was a hard award to give this year I think because I loved the script in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon.


I have now seen all five Oscar Best Picture 2008 nominees and overall I think that it shouldn't have been nominated Best Picture. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E should have been the nominees in my opinion. Frost/Nixon isn't my favourite political film but is a very enjoyable film. Highly recommended!


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Engrossing, compelling drama!

Posted : 14 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2009 03:05

"I let them down. I let down my friends, I let down my country, and worst of all I let down our system of government, and the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but now they think; 'Oh it's all too corrupt and the rest'. Yeah... I let the American people down. And I'm gonna have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life. My political life is over."


Frost/Nixon is Ron Howard's cinematic adaptation of Peter Morgan's hugely successful Broadway play of the same name. Morgan (who also penned the screenplay for this motion picture appropriation) based his production on the series of television interviews featuring British journalist David Frost and disgraced former president Richard Nixon (conducted in 1977). Judging from this premise, one would likely expect a dry, historical and contrived drama... But Frost/Nixon is instead a delicious contest of wits, complemented with top-notch acting and a narrative which is both gripping and dramatic even despite the foregone conclusion. Director Howard has crafted a powerful, compelling duel involving two iconic figures, which (in spite of liberties taken with well-known facts) offers multiple hard-earned truths and an intricate portrait of one of the most controversial Presidents in American history. It'd be easy to demonise Nixon, especially in today's political climate, but the makers circumvent this lazy pathway. Howard and screenwriter Morgan have transformed this fascinating tale into something more than an embellished re-telling of modern history. Nominated for five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Director), Frost/Nixon can definitely be counted alongside 2008's best films.


There's so much more to this dramatisation of Frost's televised interviews with Nixon in '77 than one would realise. Beginning with the President's resignation after the Watergate fiasco, the film tracks Frost as he puts his entire life and career on the line to execute the greatest television accomplishment of his career. Howard's picture also pays close attention to the power plays and behind-the-scenes machinations that went into making these interviews which became the most-watched in TV history at that time.


The movie opens in August 1974, presenting a series of news reports and interviews as United States President Richard Nixon (Langella) announces his resignation. For the better part of three years, he remained in exile, disgraced by the Watergate conspiracy which brought down his presidency. Up until 1977, Nixon shunned the media and refused to give interviews. But in this year, David Frost (Sheen), a British talk show host longing to return to his glory days, is given the chance of a lifetime when Nixon agrees to appear in a series of interviews regarding aspects of his presidency. For Nixon, these interviews are seen as an opportunity to rehabilitate his image in the eyes of the American people, and gambled that Frost would only lob him softballs. David Frost, however, perceived the interviews as a chance to establish his credibility and make headlines, especially if he could manage to coax an apology or an admission of guilt out of the former US President. Gathering a squad of investigators (portrayed by Macfadyen, Rockwell and Platt), Frost begins planning his verbal offensive. As the cameras began to roll, a charged battle of wits ensued. Frost finds Nixon (also known to many as Tricky Dick) a shrewd man capable of controlling any room he enters with aplomb. After three catastrophic interview days, Frost fears ruin, but it was in the final day that the foppish interviewer managed to force a moment of honesty in which Nixon gave the confession and apology the public hungered for.


"You have to set up that he has an anti-democratic personality. There's a reason they call him Tricky Dick."


In adapting his own play (not an overly difficult job, as this was a very cinematic script to begin with), screenwriter Morgan wisely converts the direct-to-audience monologues into documentary-style direct-to-camera interviews. Ron Howard is not a director one might consider for this type of material, but he navigates Morgan's script with proficiency and precision. The result is this crisp motion picture; a literate, riveting vocal tango that successfully examines a well-worn historical footprint without ever feeling fatigued. The power of the close-up is something Howard evidently appreciates, and this sole factor alone deems this cinematic adaptation necessary. On stage, small details aren't visible. On film, the camera can capture every brilliant facial expression which conveys a story in itself. It's Howard's willingness to let his camera linger and capture every bead of sweat that affords Frost/Nixon a great deal of its impact. He guides the film with an inspired smoothness that renders the picture quite digestible, even despite the labyrinthine historical backdrop of Watergate which is not sufficiently explained (indeed, one will want to constantly pause the film in order to research facets of the Watergate cover-up, and it will only run incredibly smoothly to an audience with extensive knowledge on the topic).


Approximately 50% of the picture is recreated material from the 1977 interviews, which have been shifted, shaped, and edited to augment the drama. Obviously, a great deal had to be cut given that the broadcasted version of the interviews spanned about six hours (with several additional hours of footage not shown). Howard wisely focuses on the segments that are most remembered and/or that made history. The verbose, dynamite interview portion makes up the film's final hour, and the psychological nuance is simply spellbinding. Most commendable is Howard's ability to engage without much assistance from Hans Zimmer's music. It's during the film's concluding moments in particular (as Frost at last decides to take the interview seriously) that director Howard ratchets up the intensity, slamming home his movie's place in the 2008 Oscar race. Howard's extraordinary work earned him an Academy Award nomination.


In one of the film's most dramatically potent scenes, Nixon calls Frost in his hotel room late at night on the eve of their final on-camera confrontation. For this scene, Frost is depressed over the failure of the interviews thus far, and Nixon has downed a few drinks. As the former President begins to talk, he starts drawing parallels between his inquisitor and himself in regards to their backgrounds and struggles. During this scene he's more or less taunting Frost...but Nixon's motivations are brilliantly vague. Morgan's exceptional screenplay suggests that Nixon was pushing Frost to amp it up...that somewhere deep inside his dark psyche, Nixon wanted to confess, and when he realised that Frost wasn't working hard enough to elicit this confession from him, he pushed the naïve talk show host. According to many sources, this phone conversation is pure fiction...but at least it's compelling fiction.


Peter Morgan's script does deviate from reality on several occasions, and there are a few major instances worth mentioning. Nixon's controversial view on presidential power ("When the President does it, that means it's not illegal!") was not part of the Watergate interview (this was apparently uttered in an earlier interview) as portrayed here. Reportedly, the climactic Watergate interview was also not interrupted in exactly the manner depicted in the film. Granted, it'd be impossible for Morgan's Oscar-nominated script to be completely accurate, but the movie would be superior if the screenwriter didn't take these particular liberties.


"You have no idea how fortunate that makes you, liking people. Being liked. Having that facility. That lightness, that charm. I don't have it, I never did."


Truly a tale of two verbal gladiators facing a critical moment of professional and personal candour, Howard's film is right at home with Frost and Nixon as they enter the gladiatorial arena of public scrutiny and face off over several days. The smartest creative decision was retaining Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella (who won a Tony for his performance in the play) as Nixon. Both are magnificent, and make for absolutely riveting opponents. These actors never try to mimic the real Frost and Nixon, but to instead embody their respective characters through sheer force of performance.
While there are issues with Frank Langella's physical appearance as Tricky Dick, his body language is truly mesmerising, and he creates a Nixon of media charisma who's constantly at war with his abrasive instincts. The character is not predicated on surface imitation or caricature. Instead, Langella undergoes an amazing transformation during the film. Especially during the interviews, we feel as if we're seeing Nixon...not an impersonation. In order to make his acting easier, Langella never broke from character on-set and asked the crew to call him "Mr. President". He whole-heartedly deserved the Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
It's extremely tragic that Michael Sheen wasn't given any recognition at the Oscars. The actor's performance is every bit as brilliant as Langella's. Sheen also transforms himself, but his direction is one of cocktail-hour discontent as his character of Frost confronts his own issues of integrity and financial pressure. He portrays David Frost as a playboy and as a dabbler; he's obsessed with celebrity culture and disinterested in politics. Thankfully, Sheen possesses the boyish charm to effectively pull this off and present Frost in the classic role of the underdog. Frost's naiveté allows him to be outmatched in the early rounds of the vocal gladiatorial match, but Nixon's overconfidence ultimately paves the way for his own downfall.


The supporting cast is filled with some of the best character actors working today, such as the impeccable Kevin Bacon as Nixon's post-resignation chief of staff Jack Brennan. Playing David Frost's team of researchers is Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen, and Oliver Platt, all of which are uniformly superb. Rebecca Hall (who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, also released in 2008) is first-rate as Caroline Cushing, Frost's love interest.


The tone of Frost/Nixon is extremely staid, as befits a movie covering this subject matter, yet there are compelling dramatic currents beneath the sometimes calm surface. This is a gripping, unrelenting motion picture that convincingly travels back in time and recalls (albeit imperfectly) how a national nightmare finally faded. Movies for mature adults these days are few and far between, so when a film as stimulating, witty, and smart as Frost/Nixon is released, attention should be paid. Equal parts entertaining and engrossing, masterfully acted, excellently directed and exceptionally well-written, Frost/Nixon is one of the most extraordinary films of 2008; a modern masterpiece laced with tension and potent human drama.

8.8/10



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A moving portrait of Nixon's humanity.

Posted : 15 years, 1 month ago on 1 February 2009 09:11

''I'm saying that when the President does it, that means it's not illegal!''

A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.

Frank Langella: Richard Nixon

Ron Howard and everyone responsible for the creation of Frost/Nixon have selected an historic event, so wonderfully captivating and awe inspiring, that a subtle, restrained documentary styled drama approach works with dazzling results. I haven't seen the original stage play on which the film is centered on, but I can firmly assume that it emphasizes alot more focus, on the stage-friendly interviews sequence and less on the depiction of the whirlwind events leading up to the interviews, which occur over extended periods of time and in many locations which the film jumps from very rapidly.



In order to bring order to the chaos, screenwriter Peter Morgan, also the playwright of the original stage version, employs a very effective technique of splicing within the film interviews with the characters in the film, taking place some time after the Frost/Nixon interviews but, unlike those ones, are not based on real interviews which occurred in real life but rather are the fruit of Morgan's imaginative world, his mind. It's certainly far more original and interesting a way to portray characters' inner thoughts, to deliver important information quickly and to arrange all the events in the audience members' heads than to use voice-over narration, for example. The film's structure altogether allows for a divulging and highly entertaining drama, the second half focuses on the actual interviews, which are of course naturally dramatic, but the first half depicts the equally interesting behind-the-scenes events, providing us with fantastic character development of both David Frost and Richard Nixon and also with the inherent dramas of Frost's being ridiculed, claims he wouldn't be up to the challenge, his difficulty in securing funds and his descent into an obsession with the interviews while still managing to keep his cool and never lose his focus or stability.

Howard and Brian Grazer's production value is through the roof in terms of quality and execution, all the elements in this film come together magnificently, including excellent cinematography from Howard(Similar to the story telling of Cinderella Man) Salvatore Totino and an extremely effective, emotional musical score by Hans Zimmer. But it's undeniable, perhaps because of its roots on the stage, that the centerpiece of the film is the acting. Aided by a stellar supporting cast including familiar faces such as Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Toby Jones and Rebecca Hall, the two pillars of acting, the tent poles of the film, are Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, each of whom delivers an outstanding, truly striking performance, with one ever-so-slightly overshadowing the other. Frank Langella absolutely dominates the role as Richard Nixon. I haven't seen many other films depicting the former president, the most famous of which is probably Oliver Stone's Nixon which features Anthony Hopkins in an interesting, heart-felt and yet slightly off performance, and yet I say with confidence that Langella's performance is the greatest and most convincing cinematic depiction of "Tricky Dick" ever done. Langella nails two very important aspects of depicting a real-life, public individual: the first is perfecting his mannerisms, physical look and voice, which he does outstandingly well. But what differentiates between an imitation and a performance is when you take those mannerisms and that accent and apply them to any dramatic setting. Langella does this so expertly that it's simply a treat just to watch him getting angry and emotional as Nixon. And yet, Langella, Morgan and Howard take special care not to portray Nixon as a total monster; they manage, very carefully, to craft a very full-bodied, rounded character with immense depth and personal drama; the storm brewing behind Langella's eyes, the inner turmoil of Nixon, is utterly spellbinding.

Richard Nixon: That's our tragedy, you and I Mr. Frost. No matter how high we get, they still look down at us.
David Frost: I really don't know what you're talking about.
Richard Nixon: Yes you do. Now come on. No matter how many awards or column inches are written about you, or how high the elected office is, it's still not enough. We still feel like the little man. The loser. They told us we were a hundred times, the smart asses in college, the high ups. The well-born. The people who's respect we really wanted. Really craved. And isn't that why we work so hard now, why we fight for every inch? Scrambling our way up in undignified fashion. If we're honest for a minute, if we reflect privately, just for a moment, if we allow ourselves a glimpse into that shadowy place we call our soul, isn't that why we're here? Now? The two of us. Looking for a way back into the sun. Into the limelight. Back onto the winner's podium. Because we can feel it slipping away. We were headed, both of us, for the dirt. The place the snobs always told us that we'd end up. Face in the dust, humiliated all the more for having tried. So pitifully hard. Well, to *hell with that*! We're not going to let that happen, either of us. We're going to show those bums, we're going to make 'em choke on our continued success. Our continued headlines! Our continued awards! And power! And glory! We are gonna make those mother fuckers choke!''

Delivering an equally solid performance but perhaps overshadowed by Langella's towering turn is Michael Sheen as David Frost. Like Langella, Sheen is in the position of portraying a real-life public figure, speaking with an accent, perfecting mannerisms and applying the imitation to drama, but perhaps because Nixon is such a more instantly recognizable and even legendary figure to audiences than David Frost is, Langella seems to be taking all the critics' attention away from the equally deserving Sheen. This is the second time in as many years that Sheen has delivered an excellent performance portraying a real-life figure in a film only to be overshadowed by the other lead role: In 2006's The Queen, incidentally also written by Peter Morgan, Sheen played an expertly rounded, deep, fascinating version of Tony Blair only to be completely overshadowed by Helen Mirren's towering performance as Queen Elizabeth II come awards season. Even though it may not win any Oscars or even be nominated for one, I only hope that Sheen will take solace in knowing that his work is appreciated by many, and his performance in Frost/Nixon in particular is a great achievement.

Frost/Nixon is an excellent, entertaining, engrossing film/story/historical account that works on so many levels and features so many facets that all come together in an excellent example of film-making. Howard, Morgan and crew managed to take a subject that many would consider heavy-handed or irrelevant, and still make it irresistibly entertaining and fascinating to watch. The dramas of the behind-the-scenes antics and character interactions to the interviews is as dramatic and as captivating as the interviews themselves, and Howard manages to avoid his previous pitfall off an overly melodramatic finale by ending the film on a subtler, more realistic but still powerful conclusion. Morgan and actors Langella and Sheen manage to take two very public figures and craft multi-faceted, deep, three-dimensional characters with very well developed personalities and qualities, with Sheen and especially Langella delivering absolutely riveting performances. And throughout it all is director Ron Howard, conducting the orchestra, stepping back and letting every element of the film, the talented technical crew, absorbing story and interesting characters, speak for themselves. This isn't just a film about the interviews, this a telling of a relationship and bond of the two men, hence the title, cleverly a phone call sums up the mindset of Frost and Nixon, it shows that both have redeeming qualities that make them great men. Richard Nixon will always be remembered for his Watergate scandal yet if you look deeper, you find Nixon's humanity, a humanity that is fragile, caring, and like many politicians open to error, yet Nixon has the greatness to admit a mistake, and that took real courage and real honour.

''I let them down. I let down my friends, I let down my country, and worst of all I let down our system of government, and the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but now they think; 'Oh it's all too corrupt and the rest'. Yeah... I let the American people down. And I'm gonna have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life. My political life is over.''


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Excellent Re-telling

Posted : 15 years, 2 months ago on 4 January 2009 02:43

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.



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