Frost/Nixon

UK Release: 23rd January 2009

Watched on Recorded TV: Saturday 22nd October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, History

Runtime: 2hrs 2mins

Tagline: 400 million people were waiting for the truth

IMDb Plot Summary: A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.

My Review: Frost/Nixon focuses on the famous controversial interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon, carried out in 1977, which were filmed a three years after Nixon resigned from office. 

I’d heard a lot of good things about this film and with 5 Oscar and 7 BAFTA nominations, Frost/Nixon was always on my ‘want to watch’ list, but I was a little unsure as to whether it would be interesting to me. 

But how wrong I was, it was absolutely captivating, an incredibly intense, thrilling film which was surprisingly very funny. The leads were Michael Sheen as Frost, who was outstanding as both a comedic and dramatic actor and Frank Langella, who played the manipulative Nixon, making me feel both terrified and also sorry for this man who was the cause of the deaths of thousands and the corruption of the Presidency. 

Being of the generation who had never really heard of Nixon or this interview before now, it was fascinating to see the 1970‘s politics play out with such intensity and steadfastness. The writing was clever and the cast, which boasted a lot of British talent including Toby Jones, Matthew Macfadyen, Rebecca Hall, as well as lead Michael Sheen, was very strong.

The lead up to the interview was long, but also exciting as you can see how much it costs Frost to do this interview, both financially, personally, and psychologically. He clearly worked extremely hard and it paid off. 

Frost/Nixon was a thriller if there ever was one, as well as moving: a first class film worthy of all the awards attention and, most importantly, a watch!

Score: 8.5/10