FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Frost/Nixon [DVD] [2008]

Frost/Nixon [DVD] [2008]
enlarge	Director: Ron Howard Actors: Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Matthew Macfadyen Studio: Universal Pictures UK Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £6.52 as of 23/11/2009 12:22 GMT details You Save: £13.47 (67%) New (17) Used (4) Collectible (1) from £3.55 Seller: findprice Rating: 34 reviews Sales Rank: 280 Format: PAL Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 118 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 EAN: 5050582614343 ASIN: B001GNBUWW Theatrical Release Date: 2008 Release Date: May 18, 2009 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review Itrsquo;s not always that a stage play translates particularly well to the medium of movies. But for anyone considering such a challenge in the future, emFrost/Nixon/em is surely a fine template to follow. In the capable hands of director Ron Howard, the extraordinary story of how a then-fairly low profile television interviewer managed to bring the disgraced former President of the United States to account is, at best, absolutely riveting.pMuch of the reason for this is the two leading performances, which are both absolutely exception. The awards attention for emFrost/Nixon/em has been directed towards Frank Langella, and truly hersquo;s an actor long overdue some recognition. Here, as ex-President Nixon, hersquo;s flat-out brilliant: a complex, intriguing character portrayed with real measure and expertise. Itrsquo;s unfair, though, that Michael Sheen has been overlooked by some. Fresh from portraying Tony Blair in emThe Queen/em, Sheen is once more brilliant here, injecting Frost with an erratic, on-the-edge fallibility that sets up the filmrsquo;s final act extremely well./p pNow you can argue, with some right, that emFrost/Nixon/em flattens out some of the facts to its own liking, and certainly the portrayal of David Frost doesnrsquo;t seem to do the man too many favours. But when it gets to the interviews themselves, itrsquo;s electric, and proof that you donrsquo;t need a bunch of effects and flashy gimmicks to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ron Howard has done this to us before with a true story, in the shape of emApollo 13/em, and here again, even though we know the ending, the journey there is quite brilliant. You really can make compelling drama with just two people sat in a chairâ¦ --emSimon Brew/em/p p/p span class="h1"strongStills from IFrost/Nixon/I/strong/span table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" cellspacing="4"p p tr align="center" valign="top" p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost1small.jpg"br Michael Sheen stars as journalist David Frost /td p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost2small.jpg"brKevin Bacon stars as Richard Nixon's aide Jack Brennan/td p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost3small.jpg"brMichael Sheen and Rebecca Hall/td tr align="center" valign="top" p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost4small.jpg"brFrank Langella works with director Ron Howard/td p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost5small.jpg"brA scene in which David Frost visits Richard Nixonrsquo;s home/td p td img border="1" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-dvd-paramount/frost6small.jpg"br6The superb supporting cast including Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt and Matthew Macfadyen /td p /tr tr align="center" valign="top" /table

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next » Langella and Sheen shine in this compelling drama July 29, 2009 Nostromo (Halifax, England) 6 out of 7 found this review helpful There will be no surprises in terms of the content here. Anyone could find out about the interviews which form the basis of this film, this is not a film of startling revelations about one of America's most controversial presidents, nor a film with a particularly intriguing story about how the famous Frost/Nixon interviews came to be yet it remains from start to finish utterly compelling. br / br /That it does this is due to three things. First, slick direction and pacing from a director from whom one would expect a quality product. As a director, Howard has evolved into a reliable and solid director with excellent shot choices and camerawork. Secondly, brilliant performances from Michael Sheen and Frank Langella. Sheen once again "becomes" his character rather than simply impersonating him. Like he did with Tony Blair and Brian Clough, Sheen is still recognisably Sheen yet he is also so much like David Frost it's uncanny at times. As for Langella, quite simply a career defining performance, he is simply astounding as the ex-president. He manages to squeeze out an element of sympathy for Nixon who is corrupt, quick witted, shrewd and yet somewhat misguided. His belief that as President he was above the law is dreadful and quite rightly he fell from grace but Langella's performance suggests that it was as much the fault of those surrounding him as it was Nixon himself. It is hard to imagine that this was in fact actually the case and Nixon the Man has done little to inspire sympathy in real life but Langella's Nixon simply can't seem to see that what he did was wrong:- and that at the very least he acted according to his conscience and this is why the film succeeds for me. If it was simply a Nixon-bashing exercise, it would lose much of the tension. The two principles are supported by some excellent performances, most notably from Sam Rockwell and the ever-reliable Kevin Bacon. br / br /The third feature which makes this film essential viewing is the exploration of the damage that Nixon and his successor Ford by his pardoning of Nixon did to the Office of the US President and the implication that one or two of the more recent incumbents of that Office have once again flown close to the flames of scandal and cover-up! Who lives in a house like this? January 31, 2009 Alex DeLarge (Dublin, Ireland) 17 out of 26 found this review helpful Frost/Nixon could have been a bit on the 'worthy but dull' tip, but it's not: it's a gripping and magnetically watchable piece of cinema, and perhaps director Ron Howard's finest film to date. (Even better than The Grinch) br / br /The casting is nigh-on perfect. br / br /Michael Sheen - as David Frost - brilliant performance here. Frost is shown as an almost pathological optimist, all television teeth and hair, but with real intelligence and ambition behind the sheen, sorry for the pun there, it was a genuine accident. br / br /Nixon - Frank Langella. Another eye poppingly good piece of acting from Langella - showing Nixon as a very smart operator indeed, with a knack for unsettling the interviewer. Most memorably when he asks Frost before the cameras roll what Frost had been up to the previous evening, "Were you fornicating?", he asks, while Frost can only answer by looking like his face is about to burst. br / br /Supporting cast are all excellent too. Kevin Bacon as Nixon's ultra-loyal right-hand man is excellent, as is Matthew MacFadyen doing a slightly comical John Birt, and also Rebecca Hall as Frost's parabolic girlfriend. br / br /Frost/Nixon is engrossing and detailed stuff that moves along at just the right pace to an electrifying showdown between Frost and the former president. br / br /Well worth a look even if all you previously knew about the people involved was that David Frost presented Through The Keyhole, and that Nixon was a bit of an unsavoury character. br / br /Solid 5 star stuff. a classic! February 5, 2009 Mr. R. W. Graham (Lincoln, U.K.) 3 out of 5 found this review helpful frost/nixon is director ron howard's best film. it is admittedly a very safe film, which is what ron howard does best, he is a very safe director, but this is also sheer entertainment and a delight to watch. it does feel very stagy, but the performances are absolutely spotless throughout, with frank langella stealing the show as the disgraced ex president. michael sheen does a great david frost impression to go alongside his equally great tony blair impression from the queen. thoroughly reccommended! Let's get ready to rrrrrrrrumble! April 15, 2009 Mr. S. J. Downing (Devon, UK) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful The young David Frost is so different to the drawling, sofa-dwelling, avuncular elder statesman of television we're used to today that his behaviour grabs the attention rather than Michael Sheen's uncanny impersonation-cum-performance. The young Frostie is a high-stakes, womanising chancer, one prepared to bet both fortune and reputation all-in for a shot at an interview with post-Watergate Richard Nixon. For his part, Frank Langella, despite his unfortunate and highly ironic resemblance to Leonid Brezhnev, imbues his Richard Nixon with enough wounded classical gravitas that from the word go we daren't dismiss him as a two-dimensional crook. br / br /The fee Nixon's agent charges is exorbitant, and the disgraced former president's eye is not only on the financial prize. To him, Frost is a lightweight. An easy alternative to the flocks of US journalists all too eager to swoop and devour him following his resignation. Surely, this is his chance to dominate the limelight and buff the tarnish from his reputation once and for all. br / br /Indeed, Sheen's Frost is initially blazé, relying on his breezy, light-entertainment familiarity with the camera during their interviews in a suburban home. Only during his first clashes with the unrepentant Republican heavy-hitter does Frost realise how far out of his depth he's swum. Kevin Bacon's Smithersesque right-hand-man-to-the-President character compares the clash of the two men to a boxing match early in the film. You soon understand the reason for the film's bluntly truncated title: Frost-Nixon is to journalism as Lewis-Tyson is to boxing. br / br /It's only prior to the final round does Frost realise how reckless and naïve he's been in staking so much on the interviews. Can the English schmoozer press the fight with his gloves off? With another Republican president with a dodgy track record more recently gone from the White House, we certainly hope so. br / br /Not a shot is fired; not a car is chased. However, I would recommend this film to even the most die-hard action film junkie. Thanks to Sheen and Langella's edge-of-the-seat two-man masterclass in acting, this is one 'talkie' film that packs all the punch of any legendary sporting fixture you care to name. br / br /So, when can we bundle Paxman off to Texas? An intellectual prize fight amongst giants. April 25, 2009 Mr. M. A. Reed (Somewhere, GB) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful As with any historical film, it should exist within the context of history only because the history dictates the circumstances. What is perhaps exciting is that this film is set in our recent history, and much of this is within our own memories. Recently, I've watched the original Frost/Nixon interviews on DVD and read the book with the interview transcripts (a mere fraction of time before I realised the film was being made), and having the knowledge compliments but also complicates the film, because you know in advance how the story will unfold. br / br /As a film though, this expands upon the original stageplay and interviews with a backstory that effectively, quickly sets the scene of the time and the two named protagonists : a ruined, broke ex-President facing a lifetime of silent mockery, and a slight talk show host desperate to be taken seriously. Both set themselves up in an intellectual prize fight, a war of words, where Frost thinks he can tackle a lawyer-turned-President with glib charm... and realises he's being quietly outclassed by a man who sees him as a cash cow. Frost needs a confession, Nixon needs the money and the two play cat-and-mouse over two hours until the final climatic denouement that would be surprising in drama ; let alone real life. br / br /The main thrust of the story comes in the getting there, the fraught last minute negotiations with an endless series of names to try and tump up the finances, as Frost puts everything on the line as his professional life crumbles around him. br / br /Langella sounds like Nixon, but doesn't look like him. However, he captures the essence of the man in a few ever have - Hopkins didn't look like him either, but both channelled Nixon and made him real. Langellas Nixon is human, flawed, real, a fallen idealist, a man who compromised and in the process destroyed everything he thought he stood for - who strove for what he felt was a lie to serve the greater good and undid all the truth in his heart - and is now a shadow of what he once was as a result, seeking a redemption, a historical reappraisal as a man who did well but failed, whereas Frost wants him to confess to being the bogeyman who shattered a generations faith in democracy and authority. br / br /The problem with Michael Sheen is whomever he plays, he looks like Tony Blair to me. So iconic was his role in The Queen, he may never ever step out of the shadow of that. br / br /In the meantime, the rest of the supporting cast yank the narrative out of the present with a series of 'after the fact' fictional interviews : these reduce the flow of the film from a as-it-happens drama to a history lesson, and I'm sure with some careful plotting those lines could've been weaved into a contemporary narrative. br / br /In the end, Frost/Nixon is a verbal prize fight between an underdog risking everything and a fallen king seeking one last victory, a battle of wills between a man exiting and a man entering... a must for anyone with an interest in intelligent film-making and powerful drama that does not preach and allows the viewer to make up their own mind. Showing reviews 1-5 of 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next »

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