Frost/Nixon (film)

Frost/Nixon
Film poster
Directed by	Ron Howard
Written by	Screenplay: Peter Morgan Play: Peter Morgan
Produced by	Ron Howard Brian Grazer Tim Bevan Eric Fellner
Starring	Frank Langella Michael Sheen Kevin Bacon Oliver Platt Sam Rockwell Matthew Macfadyen Toby Jones Andy Milder
Cinematography	Salvadore Totino
Edited by	Daniel P. Hanley Mike Hill
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	15 October 2008 (London Film Festival) December 5, 2008 [limited] January 9, 2009
Running time	122 minutes
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Box office	$413,000

Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based upon the play of the same name by Peter Morgan which is based on the 1977 televised Frost/Nixon interviews. The film version is directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films for Universal Pictures. The film reunites its original two stars from the London and Broadway productions of the play, Frank Langella as former President of the United States Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as British TV broadcaster David Frost. Filming began on August 27, 2007.

Plot

A series of news reports document the role of Richard Nixon (Langella) in the bugging of members of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel up until news that the House of Representatives is likely to vote to impeach Nixon. The film then cuts to a behind the scenes view of Nixon making his resignation speech. Nixon is shown leaving the White House in a helicopter and flying away.

Meanwhile David Frost (Sheen) is finishing off an episode of his talk show Frost Across Australia, until he comes off set to see Nixon entering the helicopter on a television. He asks a producer to ascertain the worldwide viewing figures for the event.

A few weeks later in the London Weekend Television (LWT) central office, Frost discusses with his producer and friend, John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), the possibility of an interview. When Frost mentions Nixon as the subject, Birt doubts the likelihood that Nixon would be willing to talk to Frost.

Nixon is shown recovering after illness in La Casa Pacifica, discussing his memoirs with Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones), who mentions a request by Frost to conduct an interview. It is mentioned that CBS was offering $350,000 to Frost's $500,000. In a series of cutaway interviews, Lazar explains how he managed to talk Frost up to $600,000.

Frost makes the first partial payment of $200,000 in a meeting at La Casa Pacifica, although Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) (Nixon's post-presidential Chief of Staff), doubts Frost will be able to pay the entire amount.

Frost however manages to finance the entire fee, by selling his shares in LWT and by calling in help from wealthy friends. He hires two investigators, Bob Zelnick and James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) to dig for information along with Birt, mainly on the Watergate scandal.

Frost is shown trying to sell the series of four interviews (to be broadcast as four 90-minute specials) to the U.S. broadcast networks, although they all turn him down. Despite the financial issues, Frost is able to finance the hire of recording equipment and a venue and the interviews begin.

Over the first four recording sessions (each at two hours in length covering Nixon's Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, a Biographical piece and Watergate), Frost is shown struggling to ask the planned "on the spot" questions to Nixon, with Nixon being able to take up much of the time for the sessions by making long speeches without enabling Frost to challenge him.

Frost's editorial team appears to be breaking apart as the two American members (Zelnik and Reston) express anger that Nixon appears to be exonerating himself. Frost suggests that the four of them separate over a small break for Easter, after having been together almost daily for a month.

Four days before the final session on Watergate, Frost receives a phone call in his hotel room from a drunk Richard Nixon. Frost answers with "cheeseburgers", expecting a call asking about dinner arrangements. Nixon proceeds to bemoan his lot and suggesting that, like Frost, people of a higher social class brought him down as they refused to accept him in a high position. Nixon tells Frost that they both know the final interview will make or break the other's career. If Frost fails to implicate Nixon definitively in the Watergate scandal, then Frost will have allowed Nixon to revive his political career at the expense of Frost, who will have an unsellable series of interviews and be bankrupt.

The conversation knocks Frost into action declaring "I've got to work!" Until now having spent most of his time selling the show to networks and gaining advertisers, Frost resolves to ensure that the final interview will result in him emerging successful. He calls Reston and tells him to follow up on an earlier hunch and works relentlessly for three days.

Shortly before the final interview, Frost mentions the phone call; however, Nixon asks him, "What phone call?" As the final recording begins, Frost is a much sterner adversary, providing evidence of Nixon's full involvement, causing Nixon to admit that he did things that would otherwise be illegal, were he not President. Frost asks if the President took part in a cover-up, at which point Brennan bursts in and stops the recording as Nixon is visibly unable to answer. The President and Brennan confer in a side room, Brennan telling Nixon that there will be "No way back East" if he admits to any cover up. Nixon says he is tired of lying, but thanks his Chief of Staff as he returns to complete the recording admitting he "let the American people down."

Shortly before Frost returns to the UK, he visits Nixon in his villa and thanks him for the interviews. Nixon questions Frost if they really had a discussion on the phone, and asks what they discussed. Frost replies "cheeseburgers", and bids goodbye to Nixon and leaves with his partner.

Cast

• Frank Langella as Richard Nixon
• Michael Sheen as David Frost
• Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan
• Oliver Platt as Bob Zelnick
• Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr.
• Matthew Macfadyen as John Birt
• Rebecca Hall as Caroline Cushing
• Toby Jones as Swifty Lazar
• Andy Milder as Frank Gannon
• Gene Boyer as himself

Other personalities depicted in the film include Diane Sawyer, Tricia Nixon, Michael York, Hugh Hefner, and Raymond Price.

Release

The film had its world premiere on October 15, 2008 as the opening film of the 52nd annual London Film Festival. It was released in select theaters in the United States on December 5, 2008 before a wider national release on December 25, 2008. It will get a wide release in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2009.

Reception

The film has received universal praise from critics. Based on 78 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Frost/Nixon has an overall approval rating of 91% with a weighted average score of 7.6/10. Among Rotten Tomatoes's Cream of the Crop which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 95%. Another review aggretator, Metacritic, the film has an 79 out of 100 approval rating from mainstream critics.

Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars praising Lagnella and Sheen's performances and commenting that they "do not attempt to mimic their characters, but to embody them." Peter Travers of Rolling Stones gave the film 3 1/2 stars praising Ron Howard's direction of the film stating that "Director Ron Howard has turned Peter Morgan's stage success into a grabber of a movie laced with tension, stinging wit and potent human drama" while Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald panned the film giving the film 2 stars and stating the film "pales in comparison to Oliver Stone's Nixon when it comes to humanizing the infamous leader" despite praising that the film remains "faithfully reenacts the events leading up to the historic 1977 interviews".

Despite the unaimous praise from film critics, it is currently not a box office success. On its opening weekend, the film opened #22 grossing $180,708 in the United States box office. As of December 12, the film has grossed $413,000 below its $25 million budget.

External links

• Frost/Nixon at IMDb
• Official website
• The Original Interviews website
• Universal Pictures Awards
• Frost/Nixon box office information at The Numbers