Frost/Nixon
In bringing to life arguably the most famous political interview of all time, Ron Howard succeeds in making one of his best (and certainly to be underrated as the years go on) films ever. Howard does a fine job of depicting how in the mid 70s as the administrations of Ford and then Carter took the helm, the only thing anyone still really cared about was Richard Nixon and his take on the events that led to his resignation. In the role of the disgraced President, Frank Langella (a character actor who has been around for decades without getting his due) doesnât really resemble Tricky Dick, but through his amazing acting prowess of getting the voice and mannerisms just right, actually convinces the viewer that this is Nixon in all his shady, intellectual glory, ready to take on the challenge of explaining himself to the American people, and the world. As Frost, Michael Sheen has a slightly easier task playing a less historically significant figure, but brings enough charisma and smoothness to convince us of who Frost was, a TV personality known for fluffy light banter on his chat shows who literally landed the âgetâ of the century, partially because Nixon and his people figured he would be no match personality-wise for the imposing 37th President. Indeed, it is the research crew Frost employs, in particular a liberal writer (Sam Rockwell) who seems obsessed with ânailingâ Nixon, who literally have to pull the happy-go-lucky Brit up by the bootstraps and let him know how important it is to put the screws to his subject. The supporting cast is also fine, featuring such names as Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Matthew MacFadyen, and Toby Jones as uber-agent Swifty Lazar, along with the lovely Rebecca Hall as Frostâs girlfriend and former Bad Seed Patty McCormack as Pat Nixon, but itâs really all in service to the two stars, both of whom reprise their role from the long-running stage version (and whom Howard insisted be cast here as a condition of him accepting the gig to direct), playing mind games with each other when the cameras are off, though that leads to the story flaw of some events being overly dramatized for the sake of credibility (such as a drunken phone call made by Nixon to Frost on the day in between tapings). Howardâs greatest feat here is by presenting the interview as a true confrontation between different ideologies, and as for deciding the winner, whether it be Frost (and his liberal cronies) for getting Nixon to (vaguely) admit wrongdoing and express genuine regret and sorrow on-camera for his actions, or Nixon for coming clean and confessing and apologizing on strictly his own terms, Howard smartly leaves that up to the viewer to decide. In the end, itâs hard to deny that Langella finds the humanity in Nixon, as just a simple gesture as he leaves the final taping is evocative of the complex human being he was (even if many feel Watergate was just the tip of the iceberg of the various wrongdoings he may or may not have been guilty of). Overall, easily up there as one of Opieâs great accomplishments in the directorâs chairâŚ
9/10