Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

This movie was set up like a True Hollywood Story kind of interview and then video format. I thought that was great. I really liked the whole flow of the movie and the direction it followed. I definitely thought the performances were wonderful, specifically Frank Langella's, but the most profound thing for me was the way it made me feel in the end about Nixon and Watergate and Frost and the whole situation.

Let me first say that I always judge movies by the impact they have on me. If they make me feel something or see something differently than I saw it before, I will applaud their overall theme and format even if the acting or story itself was not very good. This movie made me feel challenged and inspired while still being an absolutely incredible movie. It was strange that I would feel this way about a movie that portrays the greatest scandal in political history so far (I realize that is debatable). I was worried going into it that it would either paint Nixon as a horrible person who deserved no respect or authority or as a wonderful martyr who was treated unfairly. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a wonderful balance. They in no way made light of the embarrassment and shame he brought to the Presidency, but they also were able to somehow highlight Nixon - the man. At the end of the movie, I understood the guilt and disgrace that would be a permanent burden in his life from that point forward.

I didn't leave the movie thinking that Nixon was absolved of his crime, but I also didn't leave feeling like he was doomed to have the truth beat into him for the rest of his life either. Overall, I thought Frank Langella and Michael Sheen were wonderful. I thought Ron Howard provided us with yet another excellent movie and I thought that Peter Morgan wrote a script that was true to history as well as challenging to the current audience.

For more information about the Frost/Nixon interviews, go to www.frostnixon.com or watch this video (click here).