Frost/Nixon (2008)

A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Peter Morgan (screenplay), Peter Morgan (play)

Stars:

Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 72 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Langella	...	Richard Nixon
Michael Sheen	...	David Frost
Sam Rockwell	...	James Reston, Jr.
Kevin Bacon	...	Jack Brennan
Matthew Macfadyen	...	John Birt
Oliver Platt	...	Bob Zelnick
Rebecca Hall	...	Caroline Cushing
Toby Jones	...	Swifty Lazar
Andy Milder	...	Frank Gannon
Kate Jennings Grant	...	Diane Sawyer
Gabriel Jarret	...	Ken Khachigian
Jim Meskimen	...	Ray Price
Patty McCormack	...	Pat Nixon
Geoffrey Blake	...	Interview Director
Clint Howard	...	Lloyd Davis

Storyline

Writer Peter Morgan's legendary battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the story of the historic encounter that changed both their lives. For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans (as well as a $600,000 fee). Likewise, Frost's team harbored doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted.

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Plot Keywords:

interview | watergate | scandal | u.s. president | political drama | 

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Taglines:

An epic battle for the truth

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Universal [United States]

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Duel Frost/Nixon

Filming Locations:

Palos Verdes Estates, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$180,708, 7 December 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$18,593,156, 22 March 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of several political films/politically themed pictures featuring actor Michael Sheen. The movies include The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008), The Special Relationship (2010), and Kill the Messenger (2014).

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Goofs

When Frost and Caroline Cushing sit next to each other in the 747, Cushing's left arm rest has a digital channel display with channel up/down buttons. In 1977, the controls would have been mechanical.

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Quotes

David Frost: [Picking up the phone, thinking it's room service] I'll have a cheeseburger.
Richard Nixon: [drunk] Mmm. That sounds good. I used to love cheeseburgers, but Dr. Lundgren made me give them up. He switched me to cottage cheese and pineapple instead. He calls them my Hawaiian burgers, but they don't taste like burgers at all. They taste like Styrofoam.

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Crazy Credits

Michael Sheen and Frank Langella are credited simultaneously before the title. Sheen's name is on a lower level, but further to the left; while Langella's is higher up, but pushed to the right. Therefore, depending on whether you read the card top-to-bottom or left-to-right, either actor can be seen as being credited first.

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Connections

Referenced in DVTV: DVTV Forum: Jan Hrebejk (2017)

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Soundtracks

Victory at Sea
Written by Richard Rodgers
Performed by The RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and Robert Russell Bennett, Conductor
Courtesy of RCA Victor
by arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Presented as Deftly Talented Sparring Partners, FROST/NIXON is an Immensely Entertaining & Informative Slice of History!

........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, Colombia...and ORLANDO, FL

The morning after the Watergate break-in, I brought the newspaper to my university, showing the brief article to everyone who would look. "Tricky Dick is at the bottom of this" I insisted…"NO! He wouldn't be that STUPID!" most of them replied.

In FROST/NIXON we get an insightful look at a gifted, multi-faceted, conflicted personality in all its haunting glory. Nixon was many things. Stupid was not one of them. A Ron Howard Movie about a TV interview? I was very skeptical, to say the least. One viewing made me a believer. Ron Howard has crafted an instant Classic masterpiece. Ripe with couched metaphors and subtle tripwire dialog, the film's power flows from Ron Howard's ability to present us with the cinematic equivalent of a 100 minute TV close-up of its title characters.

FROST/NIXON turns a microscope on both Nixon's strengths and a shopping list of inner demons. Simultaneously vindictive, petty, rancorous, insecure and ever ready to play the victim, more than anything else, Frank Langella's uncanny performance evokes not hatred, but great pathos. History is replete with flawed geniuses. But only during the past half century has there been a media obsessed with exposing them for the entire world to see.

Michael Sheen is inspired as David Frost, undergoing a great on screen catharsis. And the re-creation of the interviews is sublime! Cleverly and convincingly Presented as two deftly talented sparring partners, FROST/NIXON is an immensely entertaining/informative slice of history that should satisfy even the most discerning cinematic gourmet.

9*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!