Frost/Nixon (2008)

Life Is Stranger Than Fiction Sometimes

If you had been following Jim Emerson's blog this year, you should've had noticed several jewels that he wrote whenever he had some spare time from his rather pointless and puerile campaign to prove that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was not that much of a spectacle that pretty much everybody thought it was. Among the latest of such jewels is an article named: Frost/Nixon/Milk: Get Real, where he makes a tremendously accurate point; such that just because I don't feel like beating a dead dog, I will keep this review much shorter than usual. I don't want you to waste your time here and watch me regurgitate while you could go to Jim's blog instead and read the actual piece which summarizes, with the exact phrases and sentences I had in mind, why I disliked the films in question.

I will save the Milk part of the argument to a later post (which is destined to be a nutshell one for obvious reasons) but here is what Jim thinks in his own words:

Frost/Nixon and Milk are glossy products of the Hollywood awards season, prestige pictures in the grand red-carpet tradition of fashioning uplifting, larger-than-life entertainments out of semi-fictionalized semi-recent historical events. The thing is, both have been treated far more thrillingly on documentaries that are available on DVD. Think Frost/Nixon provided compelling drama, suspense and astoundingly rich performances? It can't approach the actual interviews, which have just been released as "Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews." Think Milk was a moving look at a charismatic public figure and a key period in American civil rights? You have not begun to be moved until you see Rob Epstein's Oscar-winning "The Times of Harvey Milk", which is also a more complex, less hagiographic portrait of the man and his heady times.

Jim also makes available a five-minute clip from the original interviews which he thinks "provides more compelling drama and suspense (and adrenaline) than the entire feature film", and I candidly agree. For your convenience, I have attached the video here as well. Watch for yourself and decide whether Peter Morgan's play -or screenplay- does justice to what kind of power struggle dominated these interviews. You be the judge to the degree of accuracy in Michael Sheen's naive and vulnerable depiction of David Frost, who in fact appears to be a very strong character and a formidable prosecutor. Contemplate on whether or not Frank Langella's wildly praised, Golden-Globe-nominated performance as Richard Nixon is overdone, both in terms of intonations and the enigmatic nature of the character:

After I watched it roughly during Christmastime in Florida with my friend, we both had the same opinion of the film: It was decent entertainment and we were both disappointed that it wasn't anything more. The subject of Frost/Nixon interviews is like a glass of valuable single malt whiskey - in this case it is watered down with pointless subplots so that everybody would be able to drink it effortlessly and without being disturbed much by the strong, characteristic flavors as well as the long aftertaste (I'm sure my friend wouldn't appreciate this allegory though; he likes his scotch with diet coke, that disgusting little chap).

One interesting thing about the whole film though is how it sheds light on the background of the entertainment industry, even when it's disguised as a serious political interview. It draws attention to the power of numerous small details in a broadcast that make all the difference. The power struggle between the two men is good enough for a fictional accounting of the events but much less complex than and definitely far away from the reality itself. Every now and then but especially towards the end, the film becomes gripping and fluid too, thanks to its fast enough pace and carefully-constructed plotline. Narratively speaking, there might not be a lot of things wrong with Frost/Nixon but how necessary this film is and what it contributes to anyone or anything are the key questions here. Why would any self-respecting individual would prefer watching this instead of the real interviews (which are conveniently located on YouTube) if they are seriously interested in the subject?

Upon a closer, more considered look, Frost/Nixon reveals itself to be a waste of time for everything other than simple entertainment.

5/10

Note: This article is a part of the 2008 awards season review series which will be the primary feature of The Long Take until the Oscar Night. The information below will be updated as listed awards are handed out and more nominations are announced.

Nominated For:

• Best Achievement in Directing (Ron Howard) - Academy Awards
  
• Best Achievement in Editing (Mike Hill & Daniel P. Hanley) - Academy Awards
  
• Best Motion Picture of the Year - Academy Awards
  
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Frank Langella) - Academy Awards
  
• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (Peter Morgan) - Academy Awards

• Best Edited Feature Film, Dramatic (Mike Hill & Dan Hanley) - American Cinema Editors

• Best Actor (Frank Langella) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Adapted Screenplay (Peter Morgan) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• Excellence in Production Design, Period Films (Michael Corenblith) - Art Directors Guild

• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Ron Howard) - Directors Guild of America

• Best Director, Motion Picture (Ron Howard) - Golden Globes
  
• Best Motion Picture, Drama - Golden Globes
  
• Best Original Score, Motion Picture (Hans Zimmer) - Golden Globes
  
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Frank Langella) - Golden Globes
  
• Best Screenplay, Motion Picture (Peter Morgan) - Golden Globes

• Actor of the Year (Frank Langella) - London Critics Circle Film Awards
  
• British Actor of the Year (Michael Sheen) - London Critics Circle Film Awards
  
• British Supporting Actor of the Year (Toby Jones) - London Critics Circle Film Awards

• Motion Picture Producer of the Year (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard & Eric Fellner) - Producers Guild of America

• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Screen Actors Guild Awards
  
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Frank Langella) - Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Best Adapted Screenplay (Peter Morgan) - Writers Guild of America

• Best Director (Ron Howard) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Editing (Mike Hill & Dan Hanley) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Film - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Leading Actor (Frank Langella) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Make Up & Hair (Edouard F. Henriques & Kim Santantonio) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Adapted Screenplay (Peter Morgan) - BAFTA Awards

Won:

• Best Actor (Frank Langella) - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
  
• Best Director (Ron Howard) - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
  
• Best Film Editing (Daniel P. Hanley & Mike Hill) - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
  
• Best Picture - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
  
• Best Screenplay (Peter Morgan) - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards

• Ten Best Movies of the Year - American Film Institute Awards