Lightweight, British, television host David Frost (Michael Sheen) decides to interview disgraced, former US president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) in the film adaptation of the play that also starred Sheen and Langella. Excellent support is provided by Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell.
The events of 1977 are scripted here to show Frost as the master manipulator after Nixon originally has him dazed and confused. We see the techniques of both sides to enact their agendas, but the resemblance to reality is questionable, and the actual interview is not the major cultural artefact the movie purports it to be. That doesn’t mean the film is not interesting or rewarding, but it does mean the film is not as factual (and we know a lot more about the scenario in 2009 than we did in 1977) as it could be. The real story of Nixon’s carefully scripted confession and apology is perhaps even more interesting.
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