Director Howard’s Second Bout With Success

Review: Frost/Nixon (2008)
Ron Howard’s latest film revisits his success with 2005’s Cinderella Man, a film about a boxer who lifted the hopes of Americans up from the Great Depression. His treatment of the ring fights were perfectly executed. In his latest film, the subject is the interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon which led to a confession for wrongdoings in the Watergate scandal. Howard treats the subjects like opponents in a boxing ring playing on a formula that seems to be his forte, and redeeming him for the mess of his last film, The Da Vinci Code. Frost/Nixon is a must see.

No holds barred urges Nixon

In one corner, David Frost, and his support team: John Birt his supportive agent, and James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) and Bob Zelnick, Nixon historians with a liberal bent. Their goal to extract a confession thus psychologically nullifying President Ford’s pardon of Nixon’s illegal wrongdoings. In the other corner is former president Richard Nixon with his team, including the almost blindly loyal Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon), Swifty Lazar his toady press agent, along with a family member. As the first interview commences, the teams line up behind their men and stare at each other across the room. There can be only one winner. All Frost & co. need is one clean hit: a confession. Nixon needs only to dance around the core subjects until time has expired. The stakes are high: Frost has fronted his entire fortune and future career opportunities, and Nixon has at stake a nail to his political coffin.

Here, the repartee is not an exchange of fists, fakes, dukes and dekes; rather it plays out in shifts of sitting posture, dominance of voice, and sweaty upper lips. With Cinderella Man and now Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard has cemented his ability to direct potent onscreen duels, be they physical fisticuffs or a more personal battle of the minds. That he manages to sustain two hours is due to an eye for keeping the filler material light, quick and entertaining.

David Frost grilled by his support team

Unlike socio-political films like Michael Mann’s The Insider, Frost/Nixon never feels heavy or cumbersome. The result is a film that will engage viewers regardless of their interest in the subject matter. The balance of the serious undertones of Nixon’s television self-indictment, and the frivolity that comes with Frost’s charismatic British talk-show host personality probably best exemplifies the tone overlaying these events. Frost calls himself a “performer” - frivolity is his nature. Nixon expects no-holds-barred, and seems almost bored by Frost’s initial non-threatening manner. The odd pairing of these two unlikely competitors, both fraught with dire consequences for losing the battle, makes the event all the more engaging. This is helped by strong performances. As Richard Nixon, Frank Langella perfectly nails the trademark guttural vocals. Michael Sheen as David Frost shines especially during the interview portions: the look of utter bafflement on his face when Nixon brings all to the table is a pivotal point to his character’s change.

Like a one-two punch, Ron Howard has in his last two films (completely disregarding the pitiful The Da Vinci Code) redeemed a previous career of otherwise passable entertainment, to become a director whose next project I will relish in anticipation. This, of course, also likely disregarding the Da Vinci sequel, Angels & Demons, and treating his next project as the one after that. See you in three years, Ron.

8/10 (Very Good)