Frost/Nixon

The David Frost and Richard Nixon interviews of the 1970s are famous today for being the time when it seemed that Nixon apologised for his behaviour during the Watergate Scandal. If I’m totally honest, I know very little about Watergate, my only knowledge of it being about the fact that Nixon resigned and that it features in the film Forrest Gump!

However, Frost/Nixon’s (written by Peter Morgan, adapted from his 2006 play of the same name) greatest success is that it doesn’t treat its audience like an idiot, but does provide background information on the Watergate Scandal and on David Frost, so that perhaps more modern audiences have a better idea of what is going on.

The people involved in the interviews had very different reasons to want to get involved. For David Frost (Michael Sheen), the chance to interview Richard Nixon would bring him all sorts of fame and fortune, and he drags along his producer friend John Birt (Matthew Macfayden). For James Roston Jr (Sam Rockwell) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) the interviews are about giving Nixon ‘the trial he never had’, in order to stem the anger of the American public. And for Nixon himself (Frank Langella), the interview presents the chance for him to put the record straight on issues such as Vietnam and Watergate.

The film has the problem that many films about historical figures and events face, which is how to give the situation enough tension, to keep the audience interested when they already know the outcome. There are some issues with this within the film; you can only make the interviews so interesting; and so there are some cases of stretching the truth, for instance, Nixon calling Frost the night before the final interview and drew similarities between them both and this spurred Frost into becoming fiercer in the final interview.

However, the performances make the film interesting. Michael Sheen does good work as David Frost, as I’m not familiar with the man I cannot comment on how well he performs him, but he manages to make him annoying, and yet the audience wants him to succeed in his interviews, as we see him having funding rejected and paying for the interview out of his own pocket. There is also fine support from Macfayden (despite him being saddled with a blonde wig) as his long-suffering friend, Platt-who has a great scene impersonating Nixon and Rockwell, who makes Roston Jr an interesting character. Praise should also go to Kevin Bacon (from Footloose) playing Jack Brennan, Nixon’s right-hand-man, who is ready to defend his boss no matter what.

Yet the finest performance in Frank Langella’s as Nixon. Anyone able to make Nixon feel human and even evoke some feelings of sympathy, deserves plaudits. Langella’s Nixon is a man plagued with insecurities; he keeps a handkerchief hidden during the interview so he can wipe away sweat after his embarrassment against John F Kennedy, and one that seems to believe that his actions were always right. He declares that the behaviour of the present can never be illegal, and seems incredibly interested in money.

Frost/Nixon is generally an interesting film, with a documentary-like feel with people like John Birt, James Roston Jr and Caroline Cushing (Rebecca Hall), giving extra information about the interviews to camera. It would have been a strange one to watch in the cinema, as it definitely still feels quite small, perhaps a product of it starting life as a play. It gave me an insight into this important media event, and for that I am grateful.