Frost/Nixon (2008)

3 STARS

Directed by Ron Howard
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
Written by Peter Morgan (based on his play, which was based on historical events)

Starring Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon

Runtime 2 hours, 2 min.
Worldwide Gross $27,426,335
Genres Drama, Historical

Over two years following the infamous Watergate scandal, American president Richard Nixon has finally resigned his office. Following this event, it takes constant struggle and over $2 million for British journalist David Frost to interview Nixon for a special televised event, which is Nixon's first journalistic interview since his resignation. Its these struggles to get Nixon on the airwaves that takes up the two hours of film known as Frost/Nixon.

In most instances, I don't know what I should be feeling when watching it. Is this film about the interviews? Or the presidency? Though some might say that this doesn't matter at all, I feel that it does. It feels like the script is constantly battling with itself about the film's plot. Just when you start to think that the film is about the Watergate scandal and the interviews between Frost and Nixon, pictures are shown of the violent impact of the Vietnam War. Vietnam hasn't been a major plot element until this moment. Why does Vietnam matter? In a film about Nixon's presidency, it would. But this film isn't about that...or is it? I have no idea. This is one of the film's big problems.

To tell the honest truth, I do like this film. Outside of Langella's strong acting, Frost/Nixon is intelligent and knowledgeable. I feel like I learned some things watching it. However, I'm reluctant to accept this film as pure fact. Many historians note constant inaccuracies. The largest criticism I've read is that the film presents an opinion that the Frost/Nixon interviews were a bigger event than they really were. Others have said that many of the crucial dialogue is completely fake and that some events never even happened. Even if this is expected in a dramatic film, it would have been nice if history was respected more in Peter Morgan's screenplay.

Though I've previously noted my problems with the film's script, it succeeds in some ways as well. The relationship between Frost and Nixon is developed nicely and is very intriguing to watch. It's what hooked me into the story. Some of the film's dialogue is great as well. Another thing worth noting is the film's opening. It does very well in attracting attention.

To me, Frost/Nixon's biggest problem is that there is nothing in the film that hasn't been seen before. Where other 2008 films like Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E flourish in creativity, there is nothing here that is incredibly memorable. Though Frank Langella's performance is well done, his approach to the character is nowhere near fresh. It's been done before and probably better. This can be said about all aspects of the production. Where's the replay value? What would make you want to see this film again?

Though nothing in Frost/Nixon is incredibly terrible, don't expect too much from it. It's not shocking, appalling, incredible, heartbreaking or anything else that could possibly make it a great film. It just is. I'm not saying that a film has to be any of these things to be great, but in a political drama, some intrigue would be nice. Go ahead and give Frost/Nixon a watch. You just probably wont want to watch it again.

Frost/Nixon is rated R for some language.