Frost/Nixon

Yet more biographical film making and more of the uneasy feeling that the truth of events have been changed or massaged to meet an external dramatic structure. Did Frost really stand alone, like Cnut in front of the waves of financial crisis? Did he really transform into a true journalist in their darkest hour? Where the interviews even taken in that poetic order? Are these even the words that were spoken?

I've read since that are some sizable concessions to fiction, and I think that knowledge would have placed me in a better position to have seen it from. To have accepted it's level of authenticity, as it was uncertainly that left me unsettled. Which is a shame because it's pretty successful tension; It's all very satisfying, and more to do with what the interviews meant than their precise method of execution.

Framed as a duel, a prize fight between an experienced political heavyweight and an unqualified entertainer from Blighty. A classical underdog story. There's even a training montage as Frost undertakes serious preparation for the final recording. They manage to convey the significance of the real life revelations and use them as Frost's knock out blow. True or not, it's an ingenious piece of narrative.

And one surprisingly sympathetic to Nixon, who I'm more used to seeing as a corrupt monstrosity that set fire to the American dream. While certainly presented as a wily individual, as one would expect of such a high profile political operator, we're left with the sense that he strongly believed in the institution and system, and felt his mistakes were in failing to adequately protect it.

I found Sheen a little strange as Frost, but oddly intense is rather his calling card. Langella on the other hand is enormously compelling, stealing the show outright. Not looking a good deal like Nixon, at first it was hard to place him in the role, but by the end he had transformed my very image of the man so that it was more in line with his portrayal. Intricate and convincing, it really is a remarkable piece of acting. And here I am remarking upon it.

An excellent piece of storytelling. Funny and dramatic in turn, it manages to pack wide significance, tension and even excitement into what boils down to two guys having a chat.