A Review of the Film Frost/Nixon

Rating: Null/10 (12 September 2011)

The Frost/Nixon film was created in 2008, and was directed by Ron Howard. The film is based on a Peter Morgan play, about the real life interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon. The interviews took place in 1977. The major characters in the film include David Frost who was played by Micheal Sheen, President Richard Nixon who was played by Frank Langella, Nixon's post-Presidential Chief of Staff Jack Brennan who was portrayed by Kevin Bacon, and also two investigators who worked for Frost Bob Zelnick and James Reston Jr. The investigators were played by Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell.
The movie takes place five years after the Watergate Scandal, and three years after President Nixon's resignation speech. Frost realizes early in the film that an interview with Nixon, in which he admits his guilt, could mean big money. Nixon is in the middle of writing his memoirs, and he wants to leave a positive legacy behind. Frost pitches the interview idea to many broadcasting networks, to no avail. He decides to privately fund the interview, and sinks every penny he owns into the project.
Nixon agreed to a the interviews for a $600,000 fee. There were four interviews, which lasted two an a half hours apiece. During the first three interviews Nixon seems to be exonerating himself, as he had hoped. Frost then realizes he must step up his interviewing techniques if he wants this to pay off for him. Both men realize that the fourth and final interview will be the make or break interview for each mans career and legacy.
After Frost realizes this, instead of marketing the interviews like he has been, he decides to sink all his time an effort into researching for his final interview. He looks for something that will place blame on Nixon, and force Nixon to admit his wrong doings. His work pays off when he finds information linking Nixon directly to the scandal. The man linking Nixon to the scandal was Charles Colson. When Nixon was asked about this man he knew he was caught, and was forced to admit he did unethical things. President Nixon then makes matters worse on himself. Seeing his own career crumble before a video camera, he makes a career defining statement. He states "When a president does it, that means its not illegal." That was the nail in the coffin for former President Nixon's political career, and the defining interview that Frost had been looking for in his! The tension between Frost and Nixon was the theme of the movie, and also what I think made the film great. Whats so great about the film is the lighting and camera angles that are used. It made the film more intense, dramatic, and enhanced the theme. It left audiences almost rooting for Frost during the interviews. The lighting and camera angles enhanced an already dramatic story line. Another movie that comes to mind when I think of the emotional value that a film has is "The Last King of Scotland", which is another Peter King adaptation.
Needless to say Frost/Nixon is one of the best films of the new millennium, even though it is telling a story that happened forty years ago. The plot, lighting, and camera angles all tied together to make a great suspenseful film. It provokes audiences emotions, and captures their attention. I believe this film is destined to become a classic, and will be enjoyed by audiences for years to come.