Frost/Nixon (film)
Frost/Nixon | |
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Directed by | Ron Howard |
Screenplay by | Peter Morgan |
Based on | Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Salvatore Totino |
Edited by | |
Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures (United States) StudioCanal (France)[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $25 million[1] |
Box office | $27.4 million[1] |
Frost/Nixon is a 2008
The film reunites the original two stars from the West End and Broadway productions of the play: Michael Sheen as British television broadcaster David Frost and Frank Langella as former United States President Richard Nixon. It was released in the United States on December 5, 2008, and in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2009. Despite critical acclaim, the film underperformed at the box office, grossing $27 million on a budget of $25 million.
Plot
After the
After persuading his friend and producer
Under scrutiny by Nixon's post-presidential chief of staff, Jack Brennan, Frost and Nixon embark on the first three recording sessions. Frost is restricted by an agreed-upon timeframe and, under pressure from his own team, attempts to ask tough questions. However, Nixon dominates the sessions regarding the Vietnam War and his achievements in foreign policy. Behind the scenes, Frost's team is nervous about his capacity as a journalist and angry that Nixon appears to be exonerating himself. Frost also struggles to obtain sponsors to pay for the interviews, and his talk show in London is cancelled.
Four days before the final interview, which will focus on Watergate, Frost receives a phone call from an inebriated Nixon. In a drunken rant, Nixon declares that they both know the final interview will make or break their careers. He compares himself to Frost, insisting that they both came from humble backgrounds and had to struggle to make it to the top of their fields, only to be knocked back down again. Frost gains new insight into his subject, while Nixon assures Frost that he will do everything in his power to emerge the victor of the final interview. The conversation spurs Frost into action; for the next three days, he works relentlessly to prepare as Reston pursues a lead at the Federal Courthouse library in Washington.
As the final interview begins, Frost ambushes Nixon with damning transcripts of a conversation between Nixon and Charles Colson that Reston dug up in Washington. As his own team watches in horror from an adjoining room, Nixon admits that he did unethical things, adding, "When the President does it, that means it's not illegal." A stunned Frost is on the verge of inducing a confession when Brennan bursts in and disrupts the recording. After Nixon and Brennan confer, the interview resumes. Frost adheres to his original line of questioning; Nixon admits that he participated in a cover-up and that he "let the American people down."
Some time after the interviews have aired, Frost and Cushing pay a farewell visit to Nixon at his villa. Frost thanks Nixon for the interviews and Nixon, graciously admitting defeat, thanks Frost in return and wishes him well. Frost gives Nixon a pair of Italian shoes identical to the ones Frost wore during the interviews that Nixon had admired. In a private moment, Nixon asks about the night he drunkenly called Frost, implying that he has no recollection of the event. For the first time, Nixon addresses Frost by his first name. Nixon watches Frost and Cushing leave before placing the shoes on the villa's stone railing and solemnly looking out at the sunset.
A textual epilogue states that the interviews were wildly successful and that Nixon never escaped controversy until his death from a stroke in 1994.
Cast
- Frank Langella as Richard Nixon
- Michael Sheen as David Frost
- Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan
- Rebecca Hall as Caroline Cushing
- Toby Jones as Irving "Swifty" Lazar
- John Birt
- Bob Zelnick
- Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr.
- Clint Howard as Lloyd Davis
- Patty McCormack as Pat Nixon
- Andy Milder as Frank Gannon
- Keith MacKechnie as Marvin Minoff
- Rance Howard as Ollie
- Jim Meskimen as Ray Price
- Kaine Bennett Charleston as Sydney News Director
- Gabriel Jarret as Ken Khachigian
- Kate Jennings Grant as Diane Sawyer
- Geoffrey Blake as Interview Director
- Gavin Grazer as White House Director
Other figures and personalities depicted in the film include
Release
Frost/Nixon had its world premiere on October 15, 2008, as the opening film of the 52nd annual
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 21, 2009.[6] Special features include deleted scenes, the making of the film, the real interviews between Frost and Nixon, the Nixon Presidential Library and a feature commentary with Ron Howard.[6]
Box office
Frost/Nixon had a limited release at three theaters on December 5, 2008, and grossed $180,708 in its opening weekend, ranking number 22.[7] Opening wide at 1,099 theaters on January 23, 2009, the film grossed $3,022,250 at the box office in the United States and Canada, ranking number 16.[7] The film's gross for Friday, January 30 was estimated the next day at $420,000.[8] Frost/Nixon grossed an estimated $18,622,031 in the United States and Canada and $8,804,304 in other territories for a total of $27,426,335 worldwide, recouping its $25 million budget by a thin margin but making a loss when factoring in the significant promotional costs.[9]
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 258 reviews, with a weighted average score of 8.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Frost/Nixon is weighty and eloquent; a cross between a boxing match and a ballet with Oscar worthy performances."[10] Metacritic gives the film an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]
Critic
Historical accuracy
Both the film and
According to a 2014
David Edelstein of New York wrote that the film overstates the importance of its basis, the Frost interviews, stating it "elevates the 1977 interviews Nixon gave (or, rather, sold, for an unheard-of $600,000) to British TV personality David Frost into a momentous event in the history of politics and media."[21] Edelstein also noted that "with selective editing, Morgan makes it seem as if Frost got Nixon to admit more than he actually did."[21] Edelstein wrote that the film "is brisk, well crafted, and enjoyable enough, but the characters seem thinner (Sheen is all frozen smiles and squirms) and the outcome less consequential."[21]
Writing for the conservative National Review, Fred Schwarz, who deemed the Frost/Nixon interviews "a notorious fizzle", commented that, the film "is an attempt to use history, assisted by plenty of dramatic license, to retrospectively turn a loss into a win. By all accounts, Frost/Nixon does a fine job of dramatizing the negotiations and preparation that led up to the interviews. And it’s hard to imagine Frank Langella, who plays a Brezhnev-looking Nixon, giving a bad performance. Still, the movie’s fundamental premise is just plain wrong."[22] Though generally approving, critic Daniel Eagan notes that partisans on both sides have questioned the accuracy of the film's script.[23]
Caroline Cushing Graham, in a December 2008 interview, noted that her first trip with Frost was to the Muhammad Ali fight in Zaire, and that the two had been together for more than five years prior to when the film shows the two meeting. She remembered Frost as feeling that he did a pretty good job on every interview, whereas the film depicts him feeling he did a poor job with the first two interviews. She added that while the movie shows Frost driving, in fact they were always chauffeured because he was always making notes for the work he was doing.[24]
Diane Sawyer, portrayed in the film in her role as one of Nixon's researchers, said in December 2008 that, "Jack Brennan is portrayed as a stern military guy," citing both the play and what she'd heard about the film version. "And he’s the funniest guy you ever met in your life, an irreverent, wonderful guy. So there you go. It's the movies."[25]
Awards and nominations
Award Show | Nominations | Result |
---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Picture | Nominated |
Best Director (Howard) | Nominated | |
Best Actor (Langella) | Nominated | |
Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |
Best Film Editing | Nominated | |
British Academy Film Awards | Best Film | Nominated |
Best Director | Nominated | |
Best Actor (Langella) | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay-Adapted | Nominated | |
Best Editing | Nominated | |
Best Make up and Hair | Nominated | |
Golden Globes Awards | Best Motion Picture | Nominated |
Best Actor (Langella) | Nominated | |
Best Director (Howard) | Nominated | |
Best Original Score (Zimmer) | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay (Morgan) | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Actor (Langella) | Nominated |
Best Cast | Nominated | |
Las Vegas Film Society | Best Actor (Langella) | Won |
Best Director | Won | |
Best Editing | Won | |
Best Film | Won | |
Best Screenplay | Won |
References
- ^ a b c "Frost/Nixon (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ McGrath, Charles (December 31, 2008). "So Nixonian That His Nose Seems to Evolve". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
- ^ "Six Decades in, Warren Beatty is Still Seducing Hollywood". Vanity Fair. 6 October 2016.
- ^ a b "The Times BFI London Film Festival". Moving Pictures Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-05.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Froxt/Nixon — Daily Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ a b "Frost/Nixon Gets Political on DVD and Blu-ray on April 21st". 20 February 2009.
- ^ a b "Frost/Nixon (2008) – Weenend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 31, 2009). "Box office crown 'Taken' by Fox". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon (2008):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2008-12-10). "Frost/Nixon — Roger Ebert". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon Review". Rolling Stone. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
- ^ Todd McCarthy (2008-10-15). "Review: "Frost/Nixon"". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon Review — History repeats itself -- unnecessarily, it seems". The Miami Herald. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-11-13.[dead link]
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (December 5, 2008). "Movie Review Frost/Nixon (2008)". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
- ^ "Where Hollywood Meets History: Frost/Nixon". BU Today. Boston University. November 17, 2008. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Event occurs at 1:19:10 - 1:24:46.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon: A Dishonorable Distortion of History". Huffington Post. 2008-12-14. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
- ^ Witcover, Jules (11 August 2014). "Finally, Nixon admits guilt [Commentary]". www.baltimoresun.com. Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Edelstein, David, Unholy Alliance Frost/Nixon’s iconic TV moment seems quaint after Couric/Palin, New York Magazine, November 30, 2008
- ^ "Frost/Nixon's Self-Congratulatory Revisionism". The National Review Online. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
- ^ "Film Review: Frost/Nixon". Film Journal International. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Miriam Datskovsky (December 6, 2008). "Dating David Frost". The Daily Beast.
- ^ Lynn Sherr (December 6, 2008). "Diane Sawyer on Fact vs. Fiction in Frost/Nixon". The Daily Beast.
External links
- Frost/Nixon at IMDb
- Frost/Nixon at Rotten Tomatoes
- Frost/Nixon at Metacritic
- Frost/Nixon at Box Office Mojo