Frost/Nixon

[thepaulo]

with W basically come and gone....this in depth examination of Nixon directed by Ron Howard seems to have a real shot at Oscars time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibxs_2nDXUc

[TheMojoPin]

Cool story, great cast...but my God, Langella sounds fucking ridiculous in the trailer.

I don't think someone needs to sound or look exactly like the historical figure they're playing...look at Hopkins knocking it out of the park as Nixon...but this is just goofy. He sounds like his mouth is full and absolutely nothing like the real Nixon:

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Langella is a very good actor, but he's all wrong for this part. He's too big and too imposing, both in stature and how he speaks.

[thepaulo]

Well this is basically an adaptation of a stage play with Langella and I am expecting some depth.

[TheMojoPin]

Yeah, I've heard the stage production was quite good, but he sounds ridiculous on film doing that voice. He's trying to hard to do an impersonation based on those clips. Maybe onstage he played it more natural.

I'm not sure why adapting a stage production would lead you to expect "depth." Most smaller scale plays and stage productions, to me, suffer in translations to the big screen unless the film keeps the proceedings intimate (like Glengarry Glen Ross). This looks like Ron Howard is using his meatpaw touch to try and blow it up into something bigger.

[thepaulo]

Yeah, I've heard the stage production was quite good, but he sounds ridiculous on film doing that voice. He's trying to hard to do an impersonation based on those clips. Maybe onstage he played it more natural.

I'm not sure why adapting a stage production would lead you to expect "depth." Most smaller scale plays and stage productions, to me, suffer in translations to the big screen unless the film keeps the proceedings intimate (like Glengarry Glen Ross). This looks like Ron Howard is using his meatpaw touch to try and blow it up into something bigger.

I think Langella has the opportunity to knock this out of the park...he inhabited the role on stage and knows the part....
besides I think he played Nixon on stage before.
Nixon like Bush is a cartoon in life so you have to play with that.

[TheMojoPin]

For God's sake, LISTEN TO HIM.

He's doing a shitty fat Elvis caricature.

[thepaulo]

For God's sake, LISTEN TO HIM.

He's doing a shitty fat Elvis caricature.

let's see the whole performance in context.

[TheMojoPin]

Unless the context was he just had a root canal, downed a handful of Qualudes and was punched in the face at least a dozen times, I declare this to be FAIL.

[thepaulo]

Pardon me but it's Nixon for the Oscars....geh geh geh

[thepaulo]

Ronnie B was plugging the movie today.

[Rube]

Oh sorry, wrong thread.

[Gerald]

This is high up on my anticipation list. I don't understand the hatred for Ron Howard within internet movie circles...if you look over his entire filmography you'll come to the conclusion that he's an incredibly versatile filmmaker. Beautiful Mind is maybe the last Best Picture winner that I strongly felt was the most deserving of the given field.

[thepaulo]

definately will get multiple Oscar noms.

[SuperKarateMonkeyDeathFez]

This is high up on my anticipation list. I don't understand the hatred for Ron Howard within internet movie circles...if you look over his entire filmography you'll come to the conclusion that he's an incredibly versatile filmmaker. Beautiful Mind is maybe the last Best Picture winner that I strongly felt was the most deserving of the given field.

It's mainly that he offers nothing really unique or exceptional in his filmmaking. He's certainly not a bad director, but I've seen absolutely nothing that sets him apart from the herd. He's basically a gun-for-hire director like Robert Zemeckis. He's capable and competent, but that's about it.

[thepaulo]

It's mainly that he offers nothing really unique or exceptional in his filmmaking. He's certainly not a bad director, but I've seen absolutely nothing that sets him apart from the herd. He's basically a gun-for-hire director like Robert Zemeckis. He's capable and competent, but that's about it.

I agree he's little more than a craftsman but he has a very well honed script and cast that have come with their performances perfected on the stage....
So Ron Howard could come into this with the movie already fully formed and ready to be perfected.

[SuperKarateMonkeyDeathFez]

I agree he's little more than a craftsman but he has a very well honed script and cast that have come with their performances perfected on the stage....
So Ron Howard could come into this with the movie already fully formed and ready to be perfected.

So he basically just showed up and shot the film, as per usual. Look, the guy does what he does and he does a decent job, but there's just nothing unique or exceptional about him as a filmmaker.

I'm still wary about this flick. Great reviews, fascinating subject matter, awesome stage play...but every time I hear Langella trying to be Nixon I cringe. It's not just that he doesn't sound like Nixon; nobody actually sounds like that. It's gonna drive me bonkers over a whole film, especially one that's trying to be deadly serious.

[thepaulo]

We've had so many Nixon impersonations over the years....and most emphasized his craziness and cartoon quality....
the great things is Langella focuses on Nixon's humanity.

[SuperKarateMonkeyDeathFez]

We've had so many Nixon impersonations over the years....and most emphasized his craziness and cartoon quality....
the great things is Langella focuses on Nixon's humanity.

Fantastic. Then he should have done it without sounding like he stuffed a sock in his mouth and is doing a Buffalo Bill impersonation. Langella's normal voice sounds closer to Nixon's than what he's doing here. If you've created an excellent character, let the character speak for you instead of worrying about doing a voice as close as possible. Again, like Hopkins' Nixon.

[thepaulo]

Fantastic. Then he should have done it without sounding like he stuffed a sock in his mouth and is doing a Buffalo Bill impersonation. Langella's normal voice sounds closer to Nixon's than what he's doing here. If you've created an excellent character, let the character speak for you instead of worrying about doing a voice as close as possible. Again, like Hopkins' Nixon.

There has to be some degree of impersonation.....
but with the focus shifted away from mockery....
this is by no means easy....
all I can say is I have seen dozens of attempts to portray Nixon from every perspective and this is the one I'm most comfortable with.

[SuperKarateMonkeyDeathFez]

Maybe you just suck.

[thepaulo]

Maybe you just suck.

Touche.

[Don Stugots]

I liked what I saw in previews. I will be checking this out at some point in the next few weeks.

[hammersavage]

This reminded me of Charlie Wilson's War in that it was a well done movie and told a story I didn't know anything about.

Well made on all levels, entertaining, but just not a Best Picture film.

[Johnny Manf]

saw it a few weeks ago at a free screening in Philly.
Langella for the Oscar. The hotel room phone coversation is an awesome scene. Langella will definitely give Sean Penn a run for his money for Best Actor.

[aceofspades7]

Saw it yesterday - fantastic movie.

[foodcourtdruide]

My Review. 83/100.

I should preface this by saying I've never been a huge Ron Howard fan. I find his films entertaining, but I've never really been blown away by any of his movies (except maybe A Beautiful Mind) and I find his films sometimes get lost in a larger-than-life cliché' ridden world. His last directing project, The Da Vinci Code, completely under whelmed me. With all that being said, I'd say Howard redeemed himself with Nixon/Frost.

This is a movie with two faces. I'll talk about the less-appealing face first; these are the parts of the film where we're following David Frost around the world and getting to know him better. Michael Sheen does a bit of an Austin Powers impression as he woes a woman, wears fancy suits and takes first-class flights. This was clearly Howard's attempts to hold the audiences hands in defining who David Frost was, I just found it unnecessary and a little boring.

The reason I found it unnecessary was because of the more-appealing part of the film, the actual interviews. Technically, they were incredibly well shot, with heavy use of shadows. Acting wise, Langella and Sheen shine and tell their own story. The above mentioned scenes are unnecessary as both actors clearly define the Frost/Nixon relationship and Howard shows the tension beautifully. I would have been happier with a slightly shorter film, with more emphasis on the interviews themselves.

The film had a semi-pseudo documentary element to it. Parts of the film are interrupted by documentary style interviews, which actually worked really well. My only gripe was Kevin Bacon (who I usually love) seemed a bit detached in the interviews. He was clearly acting, when the other actors seemed more real. A minor gripe though, the documentary style definitely worked for me.

Overall, this was a good movie. I enjoyed it and I think Langella will definitely get an Oscar nomination. He wasn't just doing a Nixon impersonation; he has some fiercely acted scenes in the film.

[SonnyJim]

Ever since I started seeing ads of this movie I've been watching clips of the actual interviews on YouTube. They're very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=frost+interviews+nixon&search_type=&aq=0&oq=frost+int

[thepaulo]

Opie's back.

[A.J.]

I got the original Frost/Nixon interview on DVD for Christmas and finally had a chance to watch it now that I'm back. If you watch the very end of the interview, when Nixon recalls how he let his closest people down, and there are tears in his eyes (and Frost's), and then he talks about how he never got the chance to finish all the things he wanted to do as President, you feel the sense of waste -- a wasted opportunity of what could have been a great Presidency. It's very similar to how Vietnam destroyed LBJ because he let it snowball out of control. Nixon had the same thing happen to him with Watergate.

[thepaulo]

I just watched the American Experience on Nixon.....he was truly a fasxinating, bizarre man.

[GreatAmericanZero]

he was truly a fasxinating, bizarre man.

so you were able to relate to him then?

[jlehane3]

I got the original Frost/Nixon interview on DVD for Christmas and finally had a chance to watch it now that I'm back. If you watch the very end of the interview, when Nixon recalls how he let his closest people down, and there are tears in his eyes (and Frost's), and then he talks about how he never got the chance to finish all the things he wanted to do as President, you feel the sense of waste -- a wasted opportunity of what could have been a great Presidency. It's very similar to how Vietnam destroyed LBJ because he let it snowball out of control. Nixon had the same thing happen to him with Watergate. Johnson crudely escalated Viet Nam for spoils of war military contracts,regardless of lives lost.That was a useless war.Nixon,while right for his time openning China,was a petty shifty man,who like J Edgar hoover kept tabs on all his enemies,real and imagined. Four dead in Ohio.How many more? If i gave you a gun and 50,000 bullets,how long would it take you to kill them all lined up one by one?
Could you pull the trigger 50,000 times with one bullet to the back of the head execution style? What ,you're not on TV?