"Fantastic! The ultimate in verbal wars that has ‘cinema hit’ stamped all over it to add to its stage accolades."

There are no absolute guarantees that taking a stage-play hit and bringing it to the big screen will work, especially one as rich in loaded dialogue and reactionary glances as this story. However, stage- and screenwriter Peter Morgan has accomplished just that on the big screen in Ron Howard’s new drama, and the result is an incredibly absorbing spectacle, even if political dramas are not high on your agenda. In fact, the heart of Howard’s new film is not necessarily ‘political’. It is about the human need to belong, working in contrary to the desire to have power. To achieve both, only one man can win in this fight…

Frank Langella (Richard Nixon) and Michael Sheen (David Frost), the original stage actors, are simply mesmerizing to watch, especially in close-up, with more said in one knowing or crestfallen glance than in any of the dialogue. It is the behind-the-scenes drama, rather than the impact of the ‘great’ televised event that is at the basis of this film, as the two sides goad one another in an intense battle of wills. The climax comes when Nixon crumbles under the Watergate questioning, but the process of reaching that moment is utterly breathtaking — much like watching a closely-matched boxing match doing the rounds. Although the outcome of the most-watched news program in American TV history — and, therefore, the film — is predetermined, what makes this story captivating, nevertheless, is the accumulation of dialogic ammunition to bring down one of the world’s most powerful leaders. Frost and Nixon are so closely matched in conniving, underhand and corrupt methods that the consequence is a dehumanising of Nixon, a man still loathed by a percentage of the American population. Langella has achieved this surprisingly sympathetic reaction, not through imitating Nixon, but taking elements of his personality and characteristics to recreate the soul of the man.

Fantastic supporting performances, too, from Matthew Macfadyen as John Birt, Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr. and Oliver Platt as Bob Zelnick on the ‘Frost’ team, verses Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan who advises Nixon. The ultimate in verbal wars that has ‘cinema hit’ stamped on it to add to its stage accolades.

Synopsis

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard brings to the screen writer Peter Morgan’s (The Queen, The Last King of Scotland) electrifying battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the untold story of the historic encounter that changed both: Frost/Nixon. Reprising their roles from Morgan’s stageplay are Frank Langella, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Nixon, and Michael Sheen, who fully inhabited the part of Frost onstage in London and New York.

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans.

Likewise, Frost’s team harbored doubts about their boss’ ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation’s greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who’d built a career out of stonewalling? Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity-ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth.

Frost/Nixon not only re-creates the on-air interview, but the weeks of around-the-world, behind-the-scenes maneuvering between the two men and their camps as negotiations were struck, deals were made and secrets revealed… all leading to the moment when they would sit facing one another in the court of public opinion.

Frost/Nixon is a collaboration between Working Title Films and Imagine Entertainment, with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner joining Academy Award winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard as producers. Joining Langella and Sheen as the colorful real-life personalities who provide the men counsel is a formidable roster of actors including.

Film Facts

Official UK site: http://www.frostnixonthemovie.co.uk/

UK Release Date: 23rd January 2009

Director: Ron Howard

Writer: Peter Morgan

Cast: Michael Sheen (’David Frost’), Frank Langella (’Richard Nixon’), Rebecca Hall (’Caroline Cushing’), Toby Jones (’Swifty Lazar’), Matthew Macfadyen (’John Birt’), Kevin Bacon (’Jack Brennan’), Oliver Platt (’Bob Zelnick’), Sam Rockwell (’James Reston, Jr.’)

UK Distributor: Universal Pictures International UK

Certificate: 15

Run-time: TBC

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