.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Having been born in 1969, the Frost/Nixon interviews and the whole Watergate mess in general was something that I only learned through history classes and movies. Too bad. For as I sat through the riveting Ron Howard film Frost/Nixon I was transported back to the late 1970's, and to watch this piece of history unfold must have been a remarkable experience.

Just think about it in today's terms. Imagine George Bush sitting with Jon Stewart for four days worth of interviews to which he would reveal that he knew there were never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when he committed troops to war. Imagine George Bush looking into the camera after a barrage of questions with the eyes of someone that was sorry, weak and defeated.

Imagine.

Frost/Nixon tells the story of how the resigned President of the United States, Richard Nixon (played by Frank Langella) after the Watergate scandal, comes to meet television performer David Frost. Their reasons for meeting are both self satisfying. Nixon believes to be the superior intellect and wants to use the interviews as a way of speaking to the people about his accomplishments. That, and the fact that Nixon will be paid handsomely for his participation.

David Frost (Michael Sheen) was a struggling television performer that was eager to break into the American market. An interview with disgraced Nixon was a pipe dream on an unimaginable wish list, but why not. All he needed was $600,000 to pay to the former Commander and Chief and he could clearly sell that total and more back in advertising. An interview with the once most powerful man in the world would put Frost on the international map of stars.

The two men and their respective goals were a match made in television history heaven. Although getting there would seem like an uphill battle of starts and stops as the two fought their own personal agendas.

Directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13), Frost/Nixon is a riveting piece of American history showing both sides as they prepare for their on camera battle.

Frost and his team which consists of James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) are two people are as determined as Bernstein and Woodward were in breaking the Watergate story. Their ultimate goal is to have Nixon reveal to the American people that mistakes were made and that he is sorry and responsible for the actions that occurred during tenure as President.

Nixon's team which was primarily lead by the over protective Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) is skeptical and genuinely concerned over how the former President will be viewed by the general public. They attempt to coach Nixon on how to elongate his answers leaving no time for further interview questions while spending a majority of the sittings on the Administration's various accomplishments.

Like, Apollo 13 and the Titanic, the ending is well known and without surprise. Even those that don't know the history, don't have to watch more than 2 minutes of the film's trailer to have the climax scene revealed.

In the hands of a lesser director, the knowledge of the conclusion might be a hindrance, but Howard is a maestro and he conducts his actors in the various situations and their well documented prep time prior to each subsequent interview to develop a fascinating and engrossing movie where the ending is just an unavoidable fact re-enacting that only personifies the tension and excitement that was felt in the room.

Frank Langella deserves all the credit he has been mustering on the festival circuit for his role as disgraced Richard Nixon. Langella doesn't resemble the President in physical features in as much as he embodies the essence that was Mr. Nixon and his stare of defeat at the conclusion of the final interview a scene that would have generated Oscar buzz alone.

Frost/Nixon will be one of those films shown in classrooms and probably on A&E television for years to come. It is a fairly truthful version of the facts that occurred during the interviews and better still, it is one of the best films of 2008.