Frost/Nixon

Frost Nixon


Frost Nixon was a very intelligent work, directed by Ron Howard, Frank Langella [Nixon], and Michael Sheen [Frost].

The central point the director was trying to accomplish was the fragility of Nixon. How he brought froth the truth that Nixon was simply a man, and yes he made a few mistakes. But you got that he sincerely thought he was doing what was best, however misguided it was. You could tell he was just like any one of us, and that any number of people would have still done the same thing, even if they said they would do otherwise. It proved there were many layers to the President known as Nixon.

The timeline was very easy to follow, but seemed like they were doing too much at once at trying to cover as much ground as possible. In a way they did this effectively, but on the other hand it seemed slightly cluttered in the storyline with a lot going on at once. As this was based on a play, I can see how it turned out this way. In a play so much going on is actually necessary… even though it would seem like a sin to cut out more of the stage play in the sake of fitting in the time allowance. I felt they could have either left some out, or made the film longer.

I found the plot to be very well articulated. The sequence of events seemed to flow together as if you were there yourself, though I did expect more altercation between Nixon and Frost. I am aware you cannot really fabricate a fist fight on camera when it comes to Frost/Nixon, but I expected more of a simulated battle through the cinematography. I was aware the battle was mostly through the dialog, but like I said before, this is not a stage play, this is a screenplay. Along with the dialog I would expect more battle cinematography wise.
I felt the Casting was superb. There is not much to be said as far as talent in this group of actors. I felt Frank Langella did a marvelous job at rounding out the character and flawed past president. He made you care for Nixon, along with Frost; you were also rooting for Nixon to win as well, even though you knew the end result. Simply put- a well done performance. Michael Sheen also painted a colorful character to Frost. You could tell he was on his last rope; he could win, had to win or else ruin himself in the process.
As far as Movies adapted from Plays I felt it was a rather decent rendition of the story, though I would still prefer it to stay in a Stage play format. Although for those unlucky enough to not have that opportunity, Frost/Nixon is a good second runner.

I give the film 3 out of 5.