Being young as I am, David Frost is the man I used to watch on a Sunday morning before I had Sky and had the power to flick to something interesting. Sitting there seriously in a suit interviewing the Shadow Transport Secretary, to my generation he is pretty indistinguishable from a David or Jonathan Dimbleby. There was Through the Keyhole, or course, which hinted at hidden depths (or should that be hidden shallows?), but he was just another journalist to us.
However, 30 or 40 years ago, Frost was a very big deal. The British satirical sketch show That Was the Week That Was he fronted actually transferred to America, something that nowadays would still be a bit of a coup, and he had chat shows in Britain, America and Australia. Then there are the Nixon interviews. The friend I took to see Frost/Nixon at the London Film Festival had never even heard of them, and I knew very little; Watergate is not the historic touchstone for us that it is to people glued to their television screens at the time. Nevertheless, we found this account of the meetings between Frost and the disgraced ex-President to be absolutely riveting.
Beginning with Nixon’s resignation in 1974, the films follows Frost (Michael Sheen) as he tries to arrange the interview everyone wants but no-one can get. Nixon (Frank Langella) has retired to his California beach house, making ends meet with low-end speaking engagements. He agrees to Frost’s request for an interview because he thinks he’ll be in for an easy ride. With the American television networks not interested, David must raise Nixon’s considerable fee himself. Finally, in 1977, they sit down to talk in front of the cameras.
The tension built up to this point is palpable. The director Ron Howard has managed to make the film as nerve-wracking as Apollo 13, one of his previous efforts. The years of preparation and study on both sides come down to a few hours of filming. This is a battle of wits, and only one person can emerge victorious.
Sheen and Langella are wonderful in their roles, both hitting the right balance between impersonation and characterisation. David Frost comes off as a bit of a berk, really. A man with ambitions bigger than his talents, he seems desperate for success but willing to work to achieve it. Richard Nixon appears to be very complex. Slippery as an eel and sharp as a pin, he also seems very lonely. Of course, his problems are self-inflicted, and the film doesn’t paint him as a victim.
The supporting cast is also excellent. Frost’s team of Oliver Platt, Matthew MacFadyen and Sam Rockwell are funny and charming. Kevin Bacon is quite terrifying as Nixon’s right hand man and Rebecca Hall is adorable in the role of Frost’s girlfriend.
The script they have to work with, based on the successful play, is hilarious, insightful and very, very clever. Everything, in fact, about the production screams 'quality'. This is a classy film about a fascinating subject that will leave you desperate to get home and look at those interviews again on YouTube. David Frost certainly wasn’t this exciting sitting on that sofa every Sunday morning on BBC1.
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