Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 12/05/2008(USA
Release Date: 04/21/2009
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/Espanol/French
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 120 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Universal Studios
Hollywood heavyweight
Ron Howard adapts playwright
Peter Morgan's West End hit for the silver screen with this feature focusing on the 1977 television interviews between journalist
David Frost (
Michael Sheen) and former president
Richard Nixon (
Frank Langella). At the time
Nixon sat down with
Frost to discuss the sordid details that ultimately derailed his presidency, it had been three years since the former commander in chief had been forced out of office. The Watergate scandal was still fresh in everyone's minds, and
Nixon had remained notoriously tight-lipped until he agreed to sit down with
Frost.
Nixon was certain that he could hold his own opposite the up-and-coming British broadcaster, and even
Frost's own people weren't quite sure their boss was ready for such a high-profile interview. When the interview ultimately got under way and each man eschewed the typical posturing in favor of the simple truth, fans and critics on both sides were stunned by what they witnessed. Instead of
Nixon stonewalling the interviewer as expected, or
Frost lobbing softballs as the truth-seekers feared, what emerged was an unguardedly honest exchange between a man who had lost everything and another with everything to gain. In this film, viewers are treated to not only a recreation of that landmark interview, but a behind-the-scenes look at the power struggles that led up to it as well.
Tim Bevan,
Eric Fellner, and
Brian Grazer team to produce a film adapted for the screen by original play author
Morgan (
The Queen and
The Last King of Scotland).
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide