Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

by Max Querengässer & Yves Büttner

(AP class 12 English – Ms Weiland)

On February 24, 2009 our English AP class met in Hackesche Hoefe to watch the movie Frost/Nixon in its original version.

Oscar winner Ron Howard brought Peter Morgan’s interpretation of one of the most fascinating duels of talkshow journalism to the movie theaters. Three years after Richard Nixon’s resignation as president he did not remain silent any longer and in a couple of interviews talked about his term. The expectations of discovering the truth about the Watergate case were high especially since the nation had so far never received an apology for the fraud that had almost ended in the first impeachment in history.

Thinking that it would be an easy game, Nixon chose the British talk show host and entertainer David Frost, who had never done a political interview before. 400 million people were waiting for the truth and Michael Sheen (Frost) together with Frank Langella (Nixon) impressively show how tantalizing a political interview can be. At the beginning the viewer gets to know the main facts about the Watergate scandal so that, even if one does not know about this historic event, the message of the film becomes clear.

Having difficulty getting the interview with Nixon at first, talk show host David Frost finally succeeds in convincing Nixon by offering him a considerable sum of money. He tries to find out about the ex-presidents secrets but sometimes he does not realize how important his role in this game is. Frost underestimates the situation and even sacrifices his own money and influence being convinced that this interview would become a sensation. Nixon on the other hand tries to reconstitute his honour as a president.Though the interviews develop into a box fight between two opponents who have both – the chance to win everything or to lose it. The most important scene in the film shows a drunken Nixon, calling Frost the night before the last and most important interview which concerns Watergate. Next to the rising tension, some funny dialogues amuse the viewer. The well-chosen humour and its 70s flavor ease the film up. ”Frost/Nixon” takes a closer look behind the scenes of this memorable meeting. Some parts of the interviews are fake, but still the film is based on a true story. The fake parts do not make the film less believable.

Director Ron Howard staged a brilliant drama of two people, arguing about the truth in front of the camera. The film shows that policy is not always about what a politician says but how he looks while saying it. He demonstrates the power of  pictures compared to words. Even though this issue was used in films before, Ron Howard and his flashy style succeeds in capturing the audience.

The film became nominated for several Golden Globe awards and five Oscars. Unfortunately, it did not win any of them. In our opinion the film earned at least one Oscar – the one for the best actor.