Entertainment - Movies
Frost/Nixon gives chills
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Fighting for justice seemed to be the dominating theme of this cinematic ode to the most consequential political scandal in American history.
Based on the events of 1977, Frost/Nixon paints a vivid picture of the controversial interviews between British talk show host David Frost and former United States president Richard Nixon. The movie gives a brief synopsis of the incident which led to Nixon’s resignation, three years before the interviews took place, after being tied to the Watergate scandal of 1972.
Watergate was a hotel complex where the Democratic National Committee headquarters were broken into by men who were being paid to investigate Democratic political strategies for the 1972 presidential election. Evidence eluded that the President Nixon had been involved in a cover-up of the break-in and may have been the initial conspirator behind it.
Following his resignation, which was submitted to escape a possible impeachment, Nixon was pardoned of all criminal charges but left the American population with not a word of self-conviction.
When his time in the spotlight began to fade, Frost, who sought to work on a project that would legitimize him in the entertainment business, arranged camera time with a disgraced Nixon (a convincing Frank Langella) in order to revive his career. Frost (Michael Sheen) was an animated, lively TV personality who naively threw himself into a whirlwind of political drama and harsh animosity between a people and their fallen leader. I truly felt Frost’s discomfort as he battled a wave of intimidation, brought on by the increasing intensity of each taping session, which visibly eroded his self-confidence.
The process of forming an intelligent team of researchers, driven by their passionate sense of injustice, and preparing for the highly anticipated interviews played a key role in the big screen version of the play, written by Peter Morgan. The interaction between Frost’s researchers James Reston (Sam Rockwell), John Birt (Matthew MacFadyen) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) serves as a comedic build up to the ominous interview where their interrogative questions go up against Nixon’s stonewall answers.
A seemingly defeated Frost suffers through a rigorous battle of wits with a man whose entire career had thrived on his ability to argue controversial issues. Throughout the entire film there seemed to be an underlying plot which showed both main characters as outcasts striving to regain their fame.
The movie climaxes when, during the final interview, Frost targets Nixon’s personal definition of right and wrong. I watched as Frost morphed from a frivolous TV host into a hard core journalist who mercilessly interrogated his opponent until victory was achieved. With his last shred of self justification Nixon confirms his moral corruption when he states, “I’m saying when the president does it it’s not illegal!”
I realize Frost/Nixon is a presentation of a potentially boring storyline but I genuinely feel that, if nothing else, the movie was able to educate viewers about a defining moment in American history in a thrilling and entertaining way. This movie provides its audience with a front row seat to witness the recreation of an event which no one, during the time, ever dreamed would take place; a foreign television host giving Richard Nixon “the trial he never had.”