Frost/Nixon (2008)

Frost/Nixon, nominated for Best Picture of 2008, takes us behind the scenes of the historic interviews with Richard Nixon conducted by David Frost three years after the former president resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. A substantial portion of the film recreates moments from those interviews, particularly the moments when Nixon managed to outsmart Frost and answer the questions to suit his own purposes, and those recreations actually make for some of the most intriguing parts of the movie. Certainly, we have the originals available to use to watch, so we can make direct comparisons, but the selection of particular moments to include in this film has been well made to achieve the most impact.

Frank Langella gives a strong performance as Nixon. Although he does not physically resemble Nixon all that much, he captures the disgraced president's vocal patterns and his mannerisms well. It's especially astonishing to see just how fully Langella is able to hone in on the feelings of inadequacy that plagued Nixon throughout much of his lifetime, that sense that others always felt they were better than he. You don't ever quite forget that you're watching someone else play Nixon, but Langella is quite effective at capturing some of the man's personality. Michael Sheen, who was so good as Tony Blair in The Queen (written by the same screenwriter as Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan), is Langella's equal here. Langella has received all of the attention for his performance, but Sheen brought back to my memory many of Frost's tics and style of speaking. He, too, fails to look much like the person he's playing, but he nevertheless inhabits the part well.

The movie is told as a series of flashbacks by various men who were involved in the development of the interviews. Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt portray two newsmen who help Frost conduct the background research for the project and supply questions to ask of Nixon. Both want to force Nixon to apologize, to admit his guilt for Watergate and the continuing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and both find themselves disappointed when Nixon proves to be a more commanding presence under the camera lights. (As an aside, Platt does a pretty accurate verbal impression of Nixon early in the film. Too bad he isn't close to the physical presence as well; it would have been interesting to see him in the part.) Both men are well cast, as is Matthew Mcfadyen as Frost's producer. Mcfadyen is perhaps best known for playing Mr. Darcy in the most recent adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but even in this small part, he makes quite an impression.

The other person who serves to introduce the flashbacks is Nixon's loyal former chief of staff, Jack Brennan, played here by Kevin Bacon. Is this always going to be Bacon's lot in life, to shine so brilliantly in these small parts yet never receive much recognition? He brings to the character such a sense of loyalty, that kind of blind loyalty that allows you to overlook someone's flaws, the kind of flaws everyone else can see. He has to play a rather tightly wound man in this film, but Bacon is definitely up to the challenge. It's a pleasure to watch him each time he appears on screen.

There are a few moments of humor scattered throughout this film, but it's mostly played for earnest drama. And perhaps that's why it's not that interesting of a movie overall for me. Certainly, there are moments of great intrigue: whether or not Frost will raise enough money to produce the interviews without studio support, whether or not Nixon will truly be forthcoming in his answers, those kinds of issues. However, despite its attempts to raise important issues, such as those involving journalistic integrity, Frost/Nixon suffers at least in part because we already know how everything turns out. There have been films in recent years that have managed to create a sense of tension despite having an ending with which everyone is familiar--I'm thinking of United 93, just as an example--but Frost/Nixon never seems to catch fire that way. In fact, portions of it are rather dull. To be honest, I've seen the film twice, and I've had trouble staying awake during the first half hour as the various deals and agreements are being made to set up the interviews.

There is, of course, (or, more properly, was) an opportunity with Frost/Nixon to make comparisons to the most recent presidential administration. A few times during the movie, there's a mention how the president damaged the credibility of the United States and brought shame to the office. There's also the scene where Frost challenges the legality of some of Nixon's actions (and those of his administration), only to have Nixon reply that the mere fact that the president is carrying out those actions means that they aren't illegal. How many parallels could have been made to the Bush years if the filmmakers had tried to draw the similarities out more? How many people will want to have some sort of retribution for the past eight years, much as the country wanted Nixon to "pay" for what he had done, a fact that is addressed early in the movie but inconsistently after that? Frost/Nixon, unlike Milk (another of the nominees for 2008's Best Picture), seems less timely than it should. I suspect the stage version might have been more effective in conveying that sense of connectedness, of "timelessness," but all we have in this film version is the historical context of the late 1970s.

I suppose there might be people (rather young people?) who don't know about this portion of American history. They might "learn" something from this film (although it's adherence to historical accuracy at times is quite suspect), but the rest of us will just have to nod and reminisce about what we can recall from this time in our nation's collective experience. Frost/Nixon doesn't really challenge our beliefs about Nixon (or about Frost either, for that matter), despite making him perhaps more sympathetic at times than many would want to accept. I'm sure there are still stories to tell about the aftermath of the Nixon presidency and what his life in solitude was like, but Frost/Nixon, unfortunately, plays it too safe to be considered a truly great film.