June 2010 Film Review by Joe Stead
Frost/Nixon on DVD
One of the must-see events of the fall theatre season is certain to be TimeLine Theatre Company's Chicago stage premiere of "Frost/Nixon". Anyone looking for history-making drama knows that they can turn to TimeLine for consistently superior and thought-provoking fare. As a preview to TimeLine's production, we take a look at the 2008 film adaptation of Peter Morgan's London and Broadway stage success, which faithfully preserves both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen's original performances as well as the legendary face-off of disgraced former President Richard M. Nixon and popular British TV host David Frost.
The year was 1977 and Frost, seizing on the public's desire for information and closure in the sticky Watergate scandal that brought the 37th President to his knees, successfully campaigned for the first post-impeachment television interview with the exiled Nixon. It was a historic encounter to be sure. Here was the former leader of the free world, the first and only sitting President forced to resign his position under political pressure, in a life and death match with his own demons. And it was orchestrated, we are told, by a political lightweight who may never have voted in his life but who understood television.
Both
men had a substantial amount to win or lose here. For Nixon,
it was an opportunity to either exonerate himself or validate
America's distrust. Frost was gambling with private money, an
unprecedented sum of $600,000 for the privilege and with no major
network support he decided to privately syndicate the interview
himself. Nixon may have been expecting to be pitched "puff
balls" by this Washington outsider, but through a well-orchestrated
series of encounters, the "Frost/Nixon" match would go
down in history as perhaps the most famous political interview of all time.
Nixon was most certainly a complex and fascinating character, and Langella nails him in the film. So thoroughly did the actor attempt to channel Nixon's gruff but lonely persona that he reportedly requested to be addressed as "Mister President" throughout the film. The real-life Nixon was nearly as fascinating as any of the monarchs poeticized by William Shakespeare. Nixon rightfully feared that his many positive accomplishments would be eclipsed by Watergate, and today many people know little or nothing of the real man. He had many enemies and paranoia, but his greatest enemy ultimately was himself. Langella manages to make us sympathize with the late Commander in Chief, even as we loathe his abuse of power and betrayal of his country's trust in him.
By comparison, Sheen and Frost come across as less interesting, although the idea of a popular performer with no reporter or journalistic credibility thrust into the national political spotlight is a fascinating one. It's the David and Goliath analogy and certainly a boon to the little guys out there who challenge the system and win. There were pundits who claimed that Nixon lost his first Presidential challenge to John F. Kennedy because the latter looked better on television, and that irony is not lost here. We are told that the greatest sin of television is the reductive power of the close-up, and the expressions on both Sheen and Langella's faces say it all. Nixon's final realization that his political career, for which he fought so hard his entire life, is now over is profoundly haunting.
By treating the play and its subjects as a major boxing match, Director Ron Howard's authentic docudrama is riveting stuff. Howard describes the piece as "A thinking man's Rocky," which seems fitting. One could argue a few of the historical accuracies portrayed here, the late night "Cheeseburger" telephone conversation for example, but playwright Peter Morgan's dramatic license is well earned. And the behind the scenes bonus features of the DVD, including glimpses of the real life David Frost/Richard Nixon interviews make this a must-see. You can watch the film now on DVD, or you can wait until August 21 for TimeLine's anticipated live production. Better yet, why not have both?
About Joe Stead
Joe
Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has
involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for
the past twenty-five years. He served as founder, producer and
Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland
and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida. Favorite productions
have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap,"
"The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker,"
"Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie
Brown" and "Godspell". He has also performed
leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin,"
"The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and
most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for
Waukegan Community Players. Joe holds a degree in Commercial
Art from Tampa Technical Institute. As a critic, he has
reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major
regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey,
Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in
Sarasota, Florida.
Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America. He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers. He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene. Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays. His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).