David Frost takes on a heavyweight.

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2009)

Frost/Nixon.
This movie is about the series of interviews by David Frost of disgraced President Richard Nixon, which are presented as "the trial Nixon never had." After Watergate, people were very angry at Gerald Ford for pardoning Nixon, in effect making sure that he would never pay for his crimes in the cover-up. The main conflict at the heart of this story: is David Frost (seen here as basically a puff-piece lightweight with no particular interest in politics) the right man to serve as de facto prosecutor of Nixon? The struggle he goes through just to get the interview is a conflict springing from his reputation as a lightweight interviewer, a TV "performer, " while Nixon is seen as an intellectual heavyweight not easily brought down. Can he get the interview, and more importantly, Will Frost be up to the task of giving Nixon that trial? The interview sequences are shown and compared to a boxing match, and the metaphor works well. Frost is initially outclassed by Nixon, the masterful stone-waller, who is able to monopolize the time and set the pace of his answers, while Frost is desperately out of his league. After a poor start, how will Frost come back? Can he prevail? This film is very performance-driven. Frank Langella as Nixon is buried in the part, as is Michael Sheen as Frost. The obvious comparison is "All the President's Men." Both are well-done films, and Frost/Nixon seems especially relevant in the wake of the Bush administration.