Sneak Preview: Frost/Nixon Will Have You on the Edge of Your Seat

I got the opportunity to watch the movie Frost/Nixon before it hit theaters Christmas Day and it was one of the best movies I have seen in quite some time. Frank Langella who plays the role of President Nixon and Michael Sheen who plays the role of British television reporter David Frost are simply spectacular in this drama that will have viewers on the edge of their seats. The movie is based on the true story of Nixon's interview with reporter Frost in the aftermath of Watergate.

The film is directed by Ron Howard and written by Peter Morgan. Frost/Nixon is about the Watergate scandal that ultimately brought down the presidency of President Nixon but the movie does more than just recount history. It tells the story of the aftermath of Watergate for Richard M. Nixon. Several months after President Nixon has resigned from office and after President Ford has given him a full pardon, Frost/Nixon tells the story of a British reporter named David Frost who is in search of glory and fame, attempting to make a name for himself and be considered an elite journalist. Frost's career until the Watergate scandal had consisted of British entertainment television and making people laugh- he had little experience interviewing high profile celebrities, let alone the president of the United States. Yet Frost becomes enamored with the idea of interviewing Nixon, after Nixon's farewell speech received several hundred million viewers across the country. Frost believes that an interview with Nixon will garner millions of viewers.

Michael Sheen does a masterful job of playing the role of Frost, always in control of his character and making viewers everywhere pull for him in his struggle to interview Nixon and get the interview onto television. All of the television networks have declined to put Frost's potential interview with Nixon onto their stations, in what Frost calls a "no-holds bar" interview. So instead Frost decides to put the interview onto his own tv station, attempting to raise the $600,000 that President Nixon wants paid for doing the interview with Frost. Sheen does an excellent job of portraying the struggle he finds himself in, with immense pressure draining down on him in trying to raise such a vast sum of money in commercial advertising to get the interview onto tv, and in dealing with the pressure from his colleagues in preparing himself for such a high profile interview.

Frank Langella who plays the role of Nixon doesn't quite master Nixon's exact voice and his appearance doesn't quite match up with that of President Nixon, but the actual character portrayal of Nixon in his demeanor, mannerisms, and the words he says, is what wins over the viewer to like Langella's character. Seemingly, viewers grow to like the portrayal of Nixon and gain a better insight into what makes him tick. Few other actors in movie history have portrayed Nixon as accurately and as masterful as Langella does.

The movie is so suspenseful and dramatic because it goes into such character depth on the simultaneous lives of Frost and Nixon leading up to the interview and during the four day interview. Both men are trying to salvage their careers, but as Langella notes in the film, only one man can come away victorious. It is a stirring movie of how one interview helped interpret history, in giving Nixon "the trial he never had," according to Nixon opposition researcher Sam Rockwell, played by actor James Reston Jr.

The supporting cast does a great job as well in the film, with actor Kevin Bacon portraying the role of Jack Brennan who is Nixon's top aide after departing from the White House. Brennan deeply cares about Nixon and Nixon's legacy, perhaps the one man who understands him most after leaving the presidency. Part of the film is devoted to Frost's love interest in the film with Caroline Cushing, played by actress Rebecca Hall. It doesn't add much to the film aside from helping to understand Frost's character in his quest for Nixon's interview.

Some critics didn't like parts of the film that deviated from historic accounts of the interview, such as a phone call in the film between Nixon and Frost that never took place in real life. However, the phone call does help build suspense, and also helps understand the character development of both men. Although most viewers who know history are aware of how the series of interviews with Nixon end, the movie is riveting nonetheless. i highly recommend the film to any viewer, regardless of whether or not you love history or politics.