As a journalism student-slash-detractor, it was inevitable that I would at some point see Frost/Nixon, the 2008 mostly-true-to-life movie about a series of interviews television host David Frost did with former American President Richard Nixon.The basic gist of the movie is that Nixon is looking to rehabilitate his public image, and expects Frost - a Ben Mulroney-type who normally interviews actresses and musicians - to gift him a nice easy time of things. Frost, meanwhile, is looking to use the interviews to get back on American television - Australia and Britain not being enough for him.
The early interviews go very well for Nixon - he is able to deflect any hard questions, controls the interview, and just generally seems like a decent guy who got a bad deal.
The night before the last day of interviews, Frost has a sort of epiphany and spends hours researching - leading to him being extremely well-prepared for the interview and able to get Nixon to admit that his behaviour may have been criminal.
From a cinematic standpoint, this was a good movie. Strong characters with clear goals, you could respect the characters you weren't supposed to like, and little time was spent on pointless filler.
From a journalistic standpoint, I found it amusing to see things that have been drilled into my head year after year (controlling the interview, leaning forward is more intimidating, make sure the subject actually answers the question) come out over the course of this movie - had there been a few gratuitous references to John Sawatsky sprinkled in, I'd have probably thought I was back sitting in JN310, albeit in a more comfortable seat.
Obviously, not being American hinders my enjoyment of the movie in that Watergate didn't happen to my country, but overall it wasn't as much of a detraction as I would have thought.
Overall grade: A-.
--Ryan
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