Yippie Movie Review - Frost/Nixon

 

So Ron Howard decided to adapt Peter Morgan's play about David Frost's 1977 series of television interviews with disgraced President Richard Nixon.  This was probably the Oscar-season film I was looking forward to the most.  I'd set the bar a bit high, so one might say I was setting myself up for disappointment.  Well, mission accomplished, I guess.  Lucky me.

 

Don't get me wrong.  It wasn't a bad movie at all.  I've no doubt that Frank Langella will at least get a well-deserved Oscar nod for his portrayal of Tricky Dick.  Though it's no secret what Peter Morgan's political leanings are, Langella takes Morgan's script and succeeds in making Nixon a real, sympathetic, three dimensional character.  The film works from the premise that Nixon is the "bad guy" who got away with breaking the law because of Gerald Ford's prompt presidential pardon after taking office following Nixon's resignation.  And Nixon is set up as the intellectual Goliath whom the mentally inferior British playboy, David Frost, must "slay" to restore America's faith in the office of the President. 

 

The film keeps returning to the metaphor of a boxing match to describe the struggle between these two men.  And, indeed, there are several moments when the verbal pugilists must "return to their corners" for a Rocky-esque pep talk from their respective "trainers" during the course of the interview/bout.  Nixon is seeking redemption, Frost has both pride and money on the line, and only one can emerge the victor.  Dramatic stuff.

 

So the actors and the script were both pretty solid on this flick, if you ask me.  It was the director, Ron Howard, who came up short.

 

But perhaps Howard was setting himself up for failure, too.  Or, at least, a David-and-Goliath type of struggle.  Because, while I was watching it, I got the impression that Frost/Nixon probably made a better play than a movie.  The stage is very different than the screen.  Plays are focused on the spoken word.  While film is all about the image.  In the intimate setting of a theater, with the actors living, breathing and emoting right in front of you, two men locked in debate is a whole lot more captivating than they are on the screen.  Howard tries to make up for this by inserting tense reaction shots and close ups that are never really that successful at delivering the emotion of live performance.

 

And to be honest, the script still wasn't well adapted for film.  I still blame Howard for that, because he's the filmmaker.  So he should know his shit better than anyone.  Playwriting is different than screenwriting because you have to be more explicit and over the top to make sure your message carries to the cheap seats.  The cardinal screenwriting rule of "show, don't tell" was thrown right out the window in Frost/Nixon the movie as characters would often lapse into overwrought soliloquy that just seems awkward in modern cinema.