Frost/Nixon
The lessons that the US
learned during the Nixon years - and then apparently promptly forgot - have
a particular poignancy as George W. Bush impotently runs out the clock on
his eight years in office. When you forget the past you are doomed to
a repeat, therefore watching director Ron Howard's recreation of the
aftermath of the Watergate-fueled fall of a former President is even more
shocking for all the foreshadowing and similarity to the current office
holder's career.
Not to say that
Frost/Nixon is a partisan political lynching. In fact, as
portrayed by a spectacular Frank Langella, the 37th President is shown to be
a complicated, flawed, but basically extremely competent politician and a
man who realizes that he was at least partially responsible for his own
downfall. It would be much to easy to portray the man as a monster,
and to their credit, screenwriter Peter Morgan (who based the film on his
hit play of the same name) and director Ron Howard do
not fall into this trap. The movie does not necessarily treat Nixon
with kid gloves, but it does allow the man his humanity, his triumphs and
his dignity. It also allows him just a bit of catharsis.
Instead, Frost/Nixon
is a fascinating historical piece, looking at the aftermath of one of the
greatest political scandals of American politics. Richard Nixon's fall
has been chronicled on film several times before - in the Watergate
investigative drama All the President's Men (which actually came out
about a year before this film's 1977 setting), in Oliver Stone's
flawed-but-intriguing biopic Nixon and even as a
goofball black comedy in Dick.
Frost/Nixon is one
of the better cinematic looks at this turbulent time (frankly, only All
the President's Men deserves to be in the same company). Oddly
enough, this may be because neither of these films are purely looks at the
political process and implications, both look at it through the prism of
journalism - newspaper reporting in President's Men and television
and show business in Frost/Nixon.
Because David Frost - the
man who was finally able to get Nixon to publicly admit wrongdoing in the
Watergate controversy - for all his accomplishments and skills, could never
exactly be considered a journalist. Even the members of his own team
derisively referred to him as a "talk-show host." Frost had made a
name chatting up the BeeGees and Gina Lollobrigida; how could this bon
vivant extract a confession from a man who had just a few years before
been the most powerful person in the world? In fairness, though, it
should be noted that even in 1977 (the time of the story) Frost was not
quite the overmatched puffball interviewer that this film portrays him to
be. In fact he was considered a rather hardnosed interviewer when need
be, just not one who was known for political stories.
However, Frost's position
as a playboy dilettante trying for a journalistic achievement outside of his
range - even if it is not necessarily historically accurate - works well as
a dramatic setting for this mano a mano. Langella's performance
as Nixon, for all of its craft and texture, was probably not exactly
accurate to the man either, investing the former President with a fatalism
and lack of humor that is not also said to be legitimate to Nixon's
personality. (In honesty, Langella's sad-sack game-player is pretty
close to how I remember Nixon, but I was a child when all this happened, so
I'll defer to people who have more vivid memories of the man.)
The story itself is
relatively simple. At that point, Frost was a popular talk-show host
in England and Australia, however his attempt to translate that popularity
to the US market had pretty much crashed and burned with the failure of his
US show. Looking for an interesting story to resurrect his stateside
career, he made an offer to disgraced former President Nixon soon after his
resignation.
There was no response until
a few years later, when Nixon's Hollywood agent, seeing an opportunity to
polish the politician's reputation with an interview which may very well be
a puff piece, calls to say that Nixon will do the interview - for a cost of
$600,000.
Frost tries to get
investors and network interest, but eventually ends up financing much of it
himself, borrowing so much money that if this interview is not a success, he
will be ruined. He puts together his staff to help with setup and
questions, while the former President's handlers go into damage control,
planning the ways that Nixon can look best in the interview.
In early going, the wily
politician runs rings around his perhaps overmatched quarry, causing Frost
to dig deep to find the craft to extract a confession from the former
President.
It is relatively well-known
how this all played out, but the movie tells the story with verve,
intelligence and some stunning displays of acting.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2008 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Posted: December 25, 2008.
