Not Effective

Rating: 5/10 (18 March 2009)

Instead of concentrating on the era, Nixon the man or the Watergate affair, F/N decides to be a boxing match featuring David vs. Goliath, with traditional training tactics and theatrics, encounters serving as "weigh-ins", pre-match jitters, nose-to-nose introduction, cronies in each corner with between round advice, etc. When the action finally starts, our underdog suffers the expected falls to the mat before miraculously delivering a knock-out punch.
I must commend the producers for taking on a subject so unusual for a feature length film. What an opportunity to examine Richard Nixon and/or the mood and media of the 70's. Instead the maker's of F/N toss opportunity out the window and present the Frost/Nixon interviews as a prizefight. The result is silly.
Our tendency to manufacture "winners" and "losers" in political confrontations often buries -if not ignores- the importance and substance of the issues involved. I can appreciate the psychic need to pick a good guy and a bad. Certainly Hollywood has a vested interest in heroes, villains, conflict, etc. But F/N embraces this superficial take to the absolute exclusion of all else. Despite necessary lip service, the characterizations of Dave and Dick are hack jobs and the 70's looks prehistoric.
I found the debate scenes dull and the fretting of the sidelines guys laughable. I went home and watched the actual debates from YouTube, which were far more interesting.