Frost/ Nixon

Frost/Nixon (2008)


Director: Ron Howard
Writer: Peter Morgan (screenplay & play)
Starring: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt

Synopsis
This film follows the (apparently true) story of David Frost's three session interview with Richard Nixon. 

The Woman
i highly enjoyed this. it's been awhile since we, well, i, have watched anything worth substance. i guess ron howard knows what he's doing. i don't think i have ever disliked anything he's done (directed). this might be worth investigation....

the acting was pretty superb in this as well. it was all about the subtle face changes. the thoughts going on inside the interviewer and interviewee while the interview took place. this was a little more dramatized than the actual interview. i kind of wish we hadn't investigated and tried to watch the real interview. i want to believe the movies. it wasn't that there was a huge difference, but like i said before this was all about the subtly, and when a few of the words are changed it just wasn't as dramatically climactic in real life.

MOster
Alright.  Here we have that rare sort of movie which is both technically and aesthetically good.  Being both in my 30s and American I had absolutely zero knowledge of this part of history (the interview, not Watergate itself) going into the viewing; and I think that worked to my advantage.

You can't really talk about story in something like this because it's supposedly based on things which truly happened--and some dalliance in a misleadingly-named feature lends weight to that assertion.--but the facts are presented in a more than competent fashion.  Showing the disparity between Nixon and Frost people worked really well; and I really enjoyed the aged talking-head interview format using the same actors through the entire process.

Direction of a film such as this can be tricky.  After all, it's not too easy to generate tension in a story about someone talking to someone else.  But Howard couches all his trickery in actual skill, to the point where I was (metaphorically) on the edge of my seat as the climax approached.  Everything else combined to form a great experience.  Perfectly-cast actors did a great job in a seamless environment.

I didn't get up once during this movie, and there are few higher steps on my praise scale than that.