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Frost/Nixon Tickets - See the Play That Inspired the Movie!

Recently, a film adaptation of the stage drama Frost/Nixon has come to theaters. But if you have to choose between the two, make sure you also see the stage version. While the film is certainly likely to earn an Oscar for Frank Langella's brilliantly subtle portrayal of Nixon, as a whole it fails to capture the tension of the interviews, and in general gives it a Hollywood treatment. What could have been a white-knuckle tete-a-tete is rendered an Oscar-baiting drama, one that essentially has the structure of an underdog sports movie, complete with a montage leading up to the big comeback before the ending.

Some backstory is required. In the late '70s, when Nixon was struggling to pay off legal bills and desperately wanted to restore his legacy at home and abroad in the wake of Watergate, he agreed to a series of interviews by British talk show host David Frost. They covered a wide expanse of subjects, from foreign policies to the abuses of the office of the president, and the interview lasted 28 hours over a dozen days. The result was both an informal trial of Nixon's abuse of presidential power and a brilliant underdog story of two men with silver tongues. It was the closest Nixon ever came to offering a concise apology to the country-though it came in the form of a labyrinthine debate, one that only a giant of argument like Nixon could deliver.

The film, which was written for the screen by the play's author, Peter Morgan, tells the story of how Frost organized the interviews-a harrowing experience in itself, and one in which you realize the host was risking his entire career and reputation on. Sadly, this backstory becomes the meat of the film, while relatively little is dedicated to the actual exchanges between Nixon and Frost. It helps immensely that actors Martin Sheen (playing Frost) and Frank Langella recreate their roles for the screen, and each bring nuance to their characters. But Morgan's script and director Ron Howard bafflingly choose to give the audience less of the verbal boxing match that the Frost/Nixon interviews represented.
Presumably this is because it's a challenge to make two talking heads interesting to watch. Anyone who's ever seen the brilliant but dense Secret Honor, in which Phillip Baker Hall turns in a ranting and paranoid portrait of Nixon struggling with his personal guilt, knows that this can be great art, but not exactly blockbuster entertainment. But one can't help but leave the theater feeling more could have been done to put people in the room as Frost thrusted and Nixon parried.

As it is, there's one great scene toward the end of the film that is moving and gives Nixon his due as a statesman as much as a neurotic facing his flaws. There's another, in which a soused Nixon calls Frost at night and gives us a taste of the angst-ridden man we see in Secret Honor. But this scene is also awkwardly expository. Nixon's inferiority complex is plain to see, but then he goes on to attribute these same qualities in Frost. We're told he's a man who has always felt he was stepping out of his caste, but for much of the movie, his personality remains a bit of a cipher. That's not to criticize Sheen, he does a terrific job of what he has, but simply not enough seems to have been given to him in the script.

Ultimately, Frost/Nixon is certainly one of the better dramas in theaters, and obligatory viewing for any history or political buffs in the audience. But fails as a copy of the stage drama. Those interested in seeing a more fleshed-out version of this story should get Frost Nixon tickets from http://www.stubhub.com/frost-nixon-tickets.