I have stayed silent for too long. Two months ago, I wrote a review on a film entitled Frost/Nixon. I dismissed it as entertainment, a film that wouldn’t touch an Oscar. I said the film was nothing special, that it would be forgotten soon…
Two months, $10 million, and 5 Academy Award nominations later, apparently I was wrong. Very wrong. Frost/Nixon was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, and Editing. Why? What on Earth would cause such a travesty? I could easily think of 10 films from the summer that were more engaging, entertaining, or God forbid thought-provoking than Frost/Nixon.
Take Wall-E for an example. (My #5 film of last year) Wall-E was hilarious and all that, but it took an incredibly powerful message and delivered it in a way that little 5-year olds could soak it up, remember it, and enjoy the film along the way. Frost/Nixon crams the morals down our skinny little throats. Consider Kevin Bacon’s monologue at the end about how Nixon’s future relies on the interview. It’s a perfect example of how it takes an interesting topic and waters it down to TV Land level.
The bad thing about Frost/Nixon is how it depends on all these symbolisms and exaggerations and yet at the core, we cannot decipher them, or at the very least, care. Why? Because it gives us no one to emphasize with. If Langella didn’t play Nixon so over-the-top (in a terrific performance I grant you) we’d care. If Sheen as David Frost wasn’t such an emotional black-hole throughout the movie we’d care. But it is over-the-top, it is emotionally disconnected, and suffers as a result.
The Academy has fallen for this ploy. And Frank Langella as Richard Nixon is magnificent, as well. But see The Wrestler. Look at the pain that aches and simmers throught Mickey Rourke. You see it in his eyes, you see it in his body language. You hear it when he talks. That was a real emotional experience. This is studio-produced Oscar bait. And the sad thing? The Academy took it.
I agree to some extent that “Frost/Nixon” is receiving more praise than it deserves, but with all due respect, I think you’re a bit too young to appreciate some of the nuances that the film presents. In my own review of the film, I contended that its emotional impact was weak at best, but it was certainly there. The acting was top notch all around – I was especially impressed with Sam Rockwell, Michael Sheen, and Kevin Bacon – and it is undeniably a motion picture that attempts to tackle some serious issues. Whether or not it succeeds is not the point, the point is I think your age might be preventing you from appreciating the issues (political, moral, and emotional) that the film deals with. Like I said, I found that the film landed its punches weakly, but it certainly landed them. I also think it would help if you did a little reading on Richard Nixon, Watergate, 1970′s America, and the like. But I think you’re a few years away from understanding some of the characters in the film. I’m no defender of “Frost/Nixon” because I thought it was simply lightweight entertainment, but I think your tirade is off base. Revisit it when you’re almost out of high school or just starting college, and I think your opinion will change. That said, keep watching movies and more importantly *keep writing*!