Rating: 80/100

Slowly but surely I’m making my way through those Oscar nominated movies. The latest - Frost/Nixon, which was entirely by chance. I didn’t know it was Oscar nominated until we were done. I was actually watching it for an online directing class that I’m taking. 

Anyways… There are so many thoughts to unpack, and I’m sure I’ll learn even more from the class. For now, you’re all stuck with my opinion. 

As I always do with these historically based movies, I try to find out how accurate they are. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but Frost/Nixon supposedly took a lot of liberties. I just think that sucks. Is it too much to ask that I learn historical facts while watching a movie? How hard can it be? I guess a lot in the case of Frost/Nixon. History is just too boring. 

One of the biggest changes that you don’t even need to Google to notice is with Nixon himself. The man on the screen is nowhere near the bitter man that we all know from our history books. The real version hides away in the movie, behind a facade of a doting grandfather figure, until that one phone call where it all comes out. It makes me wonder what the point of the movie was. Did they want to give some humanity to Nixon so that civilization would hate him less? Or was this an alternate ending that we all hoped had happened? That Nixon would apologize for the horrendous things he did in office. No matter the reason, that moment when he finally says the words we all want to hear, gave me chills. 

Which is a great segway into the second change - the ending. Nixon never actually said he was sorry in the real tapes. Okay… I guess that isn’t all that bad. A person would have to be silly to believe that Nixon would ever admit to something that he did wrong. Frost and Nixon were both just there to make a buck. They both needed the interviews to do well. Another change. Supposedly Nixon didn’t just make $600,000, he also made 20% off the profits. 

Well then… not the greatest list of things before we even get to the gist of the film, which, I must admit, took me a hot second to get into. Whatever you do, don’t watch the trailer. It’s a poor representation of the film. Not that it makes the film look bad, but because it makes the film look a lot better than it was. The trailer made me think the film would be a lot lighter, a lot funnier. Like the handshake scene from the trailer. That was probably the only funny moment. From the second Frost/Nixon started, the whole thing was just a puddle of sadness and anger. Don’t even get me started in how similar Trump and Nixon sound. 

No matter what, I had to watch the movie, I just wasn’t ready. In the end, I did enjoy it. 

Right off the bat you can see Howard playing with the camera style. The movie is about interviews, not a very exciting topic, but Howad played it up with the idea of the camera and the tv. He made it interesting by splitting the screen between the camera view and the actor. You don’t get lost in the person, but are focusing on what the moment means. What Nixon's confession really means to the world in the end. This isn’t just a moment between two people, but a moment that will be shared with the world. It solidifies the point they make in the end, that the closeup would change the entire tone of the interview, and in essence, it changed the entire tone of the film as well. 

I might just become a Ron Howard fan after this. 

And because I watched this for a directing class, I wasn’t paying as close attention to the writing as I normally would. Sorry friends. If anything, it was perfectly fine. Nothing jumped out at me or made me question anything - besides who Nixon was. Here I was expecting the vile man to appear and I found an older gentleman that I’m not sure I could hate as much. I tried. I really did try. If anything, I can never come back from the feelings I made while watching 13th. 

One last thing… The movie is also available on Netflix. 

Happy Watching

Love Kait