Director: Ron Howard
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Cast: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Toby Jones, Matthew MacFadyen, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall
Rating: R for language
By Gregg Tubbs
Frost/Nixon delivers a timely history lesson about ambition, ego and the misuse of power. This vastly entertaining piece of filmmaking reenacts the famous series of television interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon after his resignation as president. The film is compelling and decidedly topical, as we see a controversial past president try to justify executive over-reach, campaign dirty tricks and the quagmire of a foreign war. Giving two extraordinary performances, Frank Langella is mesmerizing as Nixon, and rising British star Michael Sheen (The Queen) shines as British TV personality David Frost.
Like Doubt, this year’s other major stage-to-screen adaptation, director Ron Howard's
Frost/Nixon is based on Peter Morgan’s hit play and focuses on the war of words between two perfect opposites. However, unlike
Doubt, Frost/Nixon brings its celebrated Broadway co-stars to the screen and the results are electric, with Langella and Sheen’s well-practiced and fully-inhabited portrayals. You would think that director Howard would just have to turn on the cameras and get out of the way, but he brings a smooth, professional cinematic treatment that strips any staginess from the play while never distracting from the core drama with extraneous filmic tricks.
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Disgraced former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) faces off against jet-setting TV personality David Frost (Michael Sheen). Copyright © 2008 Universal Pictures.
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In real life, Richard Nixon and David Frost could not have been more different, and the film does an excellent job of portraying this. Nixon was dour, combative and possessed a towering political intellect. No master of small talk or casual encounters, he was at home in the rough and cutthroat world of high stakes political gambits and complex foreign affairs. Frost was a breezy, charming, playboy talk-show host, a master of light television entertainment with no illusions about being a serious journalist. Yet, they both have something in common: both have huge egos and have fallen from the heights of their respective fields. Nixon is disgraced as the first president to resign, and Frost, whose star has dimmed, has been exiled to a small-time Australian news program. They both long for the restoration of their lost power and prestige. And in each other, they see an opportunity to regain their former glory.
When Frost sees Nixon’s televised resignation of the presidency and his subsequent departure from the White House, he doesn’t see history in the making, but rather great television and huge ratings. When he approaches the former president with the idea of a series of candid, televised one-on-one interviews, Nixon views it as a chance to set the record straight and redeem his character. He also expects Frost to be the “lightweight” his reputation implies and to present no serious challenges as an interviewer.
When the terms of the interview are set, the film focuses on the interaction between the two opposing, formidable figures. Yet, one seems over his head while the other seems out of his element. Frost appears to be the underdog, ill equipped to outfox the cunning politico. But television, Frost’s strength, has always been Nixon’s nemesis—ever since his disastrous debates with John F. Kennedy. The debates start with a twist, as Frost (defying their prearranged rules) dives right into Watergate by asking, “Why didn’t you destroy the tapes?” With this opening move, the gloves are off and the two spar like verbal boxers.
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In one remarkable scene, a drunken Nixon (Frank Langella) makes a late night phone call to Frost (Michael Sheen) and lays bare his insecurities, grudges, notorious mean streak and potent lust for power. Copyright © 2008 Universal Pictures.
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Frost/Nixon deftly explores the psychology that drives both men, and their motivations are surprisingly similar. Beneath their egoism and ambition lie crushing self-doubt, fear of failure and a burning resentment of the “snobs” who have looked down on them and mocked their humble beginnings. In one remarkable scene, a drunken Nixon makes a late night phone call to Frost. With his guard down, Nixon lays bare his insecurities, grudges, notorious mean streak and still potent lust for power. The scene is even more devastating because as Nixon rambles about himself, we see on Frost’s face that he shares many of the same feelings.
The film also shows that power, fame and wealth are hard to live without once you have tasted them. Frost openly admits that he yearns for his lost fame and all the perks of being a top celebrity. Unable to find backers for the interviews, he finances them himself—literally risking everything he has for one more shot at the top. For Nixon, his desire to redeem his legacy and again become a major political player is so overwhelming that he exposes himself, making startling, unguarded revelations on camera. His most famous disclosure comes when Frost tries to get him to admit to committing illegal acts, and he replies, “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” In that one statement, he placed himself above the law and set his negative legacy in stone.
Study Questions
- Did you see the famous Frost/Nixon interviews in 1977? If so, did you believe the interviews hurt Nixon’s legacy? How well do you think this film captured the interviews?
- Nixon had remained silent for three years after resigning the presidency. Why do you think he agreed to be interviewed after such a long period? What drove him to it?
- Why do you think Frost risked everything for the interviews? He was not very political, so what drove him? Were he and Nixon motivated by similar things?
- Frost’s advisors hoped to use the interviews to get the “confession the nation never got.” Did they get it? Do you think America has a need for failed leaders to “come clean”?
- In the beginning, Frost seems overmatched by Nixon. Did Frost redeem himself? At what point did the interview become more like a debate? Who do you think won?
- Do you think Nixon’s interview became a confession for him? To what extent was he seeking redemption?
- Nixon said, “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” Do you think he was placing himself above the law? Do you think the president is above the law or bound by it?
- Do you see modern day parallels in this story? Are any current events reflected in the political and legal issues in the story?
- Did you end up feeling sorry for Nixon? Why or why not?
- Do you think the film is primarily about the abuse of power or something else? What roles do ego and ambition play? Could the story and its themes have been set in different circumstances and with different characters?
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