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Frost/Nixon(2008)

R
Movie2h 2mEnglishDrama, History
7.7
User Score
87%
Critic Score
IMDb
Director: Ron Howard
Writer: Peter Morgan

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Overview

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss's ability to hold his own. But as the cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted.

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Featured Comments/Tips

That was way more engaging than I was expecting, especially considering the subject matter and coming from Howard. Knock out performances from the two leads. Playing the interview out like a boxing match was brilliant.

Brilliantly acted movie about the true story of this very special Interview with Richard Nixon after his disgrace.

I may be overrating this movie for the same reason as The Queen–it’s a great historical story and one I didn’t know about ahead of time. A documentary probably would have been just as good.

This is decent, it checks all the boxes you want out of your typical awards contender. It’s way too predictable for its own good though, the set-ups in the first act are so on the nose that you know beat for beat how this is going to play out. Also, while the movie is competent visually and sonically, it’s also a bit by the numbers. There’s not really an interesting artistic touch at any point, the presentation isn’t super memorable besides those occasional interview inserts. I also wish it would’ve gone a little more in depth about the Watergate scandal, it’s very much kept on the side with one of the key developments in the story being skimmed through as a montage. Still, the main two characters are very interesting, and the acting and story are too well done to neglect. 6/10

I watched this film without knowing almost anything about the actual events that are depicted in this film. What a surprise it was! The cast did an amazing job to reflect the actual characters in history while the director did a stellar job in representing it. Would I watch it again? I don'#39;t think so. Would I make my friends watch it? Definitely!

Spoilers

More interesting than the movie itself, i.e. the potential narrative of the events vs how the movie actually narrated them, is the story of how Frost, a British reporter, [spoiler]who almost everyone expected to fail epically in his interview with the first US President to resign from Office[/spoiler] , got from Nixon what no other person, reporter, commission or committee had been able to get him do in public before or thereafter. If you haven’t read the accounts of these interviews, this movie is a historical must see… “_Those who don'#39;t know history are doomed to repeat it_.”

Not so interesting movie, but not so bad

Not someone who is particularly interested in politics, and went into this film with limited knowledge of the Frost/Nixon interview. Saying that, this movie is engaging throughout, has a great pacing to it, and the acting is superb (especially Michael Sheen). The script also sticks closely to the actual interview, which is another plus. Really the only thing preventing me from giving a higher rating is the subject matter, but as I said Ron Howard does a masterful job of making it interesting.

Featured User Reviews

I guess I'm giving it a 10 out of 10 for the acting, for the lighting, and for the attempt. In other words this is a movie that you want to watch, a movie that will probably be enjoyed (unless you find movies like this boring, and, if you do, you've already made up your mind not to watch it). However, it fails in the execution. Frost/Nixon should have been a struggle between minds, a chess game, and because of that it needed to have almost a paranoia to it. A tension that could be felt as one side attempted to take down the other. It missed the opportunity there. Possibly because it was only an interview, possibly because the results of which didn't really matter, either way it missed the tension boat and the film ultimately suffers for it. What could have been All the President's Men turned into something well done, but ultimately forgettable for failure to really develop the mood to set the pace. However, the acting was superb and the film certainly looks great. It is a pleasure to watch, it just never gets to the emotional level it needed to be brilliant and memorable.

I watched this film without knowing almost anything about the actual events that are depicted in this film. What a surprise it was! The cast did an amazing job to reflect the actual characters in history while the director did a stellar job in representing it. Would I watch it again? I don't think so. Would I make my friends watch it? Definitely!

Though it really only comes alive in the last half hour, this is still a powerful dramatisation of the setting up and execution of the interviews between the disgraced US President (Frank Langella) and the enthusiastic British talk show host (Michael Sheen). It was the latter who initiated a proposal with lawyer "Swifty" Lazar (Toby Jones) to suggest the president might like to tell his story. The Nixon camp considered Frost a bit of a manageable lightweight and decide that if he can raise the $600,000 cash, then why not? It takes a while to negotiate the terms, but by 1977 all is agreed and they sit down for the first in a series of two hour recordings. Despite a strong start, opinions seem to solidify around Frost being, indeed, a bit too weak to elicit anything newsworthy from his savvy political opponent. Luckily, Frost has the viscerally anti-Nixon James Reston (Sam Rockwell) in his camp and some serious research unearths things that are going to make it very difficult for Nixon to continue to try to remain as aloof and statesmanlike as he would like. It's Langella who really comes into his own as, believe it or not, he actually engenders a little sympathy towards the conclusion. That's all history so no jeopardy there, but I think the characterisation of the president was solid and engagingly delivered an image of a man who definitely believed in himself! Sheen is adequate, as is the weakly cast Matthew Macfadyen as producer John Birt and Kevin Bacon as Nixon's right hand man and borderline disciple Jack Brennan. The writing is occasionally potent here and as we are exposed to Ron Howard's version of events, it gradually becomes quite a compelling postulation to watch and opine about.

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