In 1977, British talk show host David Frost did a series of four television interviews with president Richard Nixon as the world watched, captivated and hoping that the disgraced former president would finally admit to his wrongdoing and apologize for his non-presidential actions, particularly his involvement in the Watergate scandal and its cover-up. Frost/Nixon is a dramatic re-telling of these events, based on the stage play by Peter Morgan, and starring the leads from the original London stage production.

David Frost (Martin Sheen) is a popular British talk show host, known for being a bit of a playboy. On August 8, 1974, he’s hosting a TV show in Australia when President Nixon (Frank Langella) makes his resignation speech. As all of the major U.S. news outlets clamor to get an interview with the former president, Frost decides this could be great for his career if he was able to secure the interview himself. His producer, John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), thinks Frost is joking when he asks him to reach out to the president, but to their surprise there is interest. Maybe the president sees him as less threating than a more-seasoned investigative journalist. Frost agrees to pay the president $600K to do a series of four 90-minute interviews—$200K of which is to be paid just for their initial meeting. This money will come out of Frost’s own pocket if he can’t find any sponsors or a network to air the interviews, so he is under a lot of pressure to secure the financing, in addition to preparing for the interviews themselves. Also, the topics for each interview are stipulated in the agreement, with Watergate only being allowed for 25% of the whole series, the final interview. With the interviews secured, Frost begins to assemble his team of researchers—Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt), James Reston, Jr. (Sam Rockwell), and Frost’s new girlfriend Caroline Cushing (Rebecca Hall). James has a particular vendetta against the president and wants to give Nixon the trial he never had, but is worried that the interviews may end up making the public more sympathetic to the former president. Meanwhile, Nixon has his own team of advisors preparing him for the interviews, including right hand man Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) and Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones).

As the first interview gets underway, Frost quickly discovers that taking down Nixon is much easier said than done. The former president and his team don’t even consider Frost to be in their same intellectual class, and it’s looking like they may be right. Nixon likes to throw Frost off his game with his pre-recording small talk, and he is an expert at turning Frost’s questions around and giving long answers that run out the clock, and make him look more like a hero. Frost’s team is questing his ability to get the confession the world is hoping for, and Frost is also under immense financial pressure as he has only managed to sell 30% of the advertising by the time the recording begins. He has put his career on the line for these interviews that may never see the light of day if he can’t secure advertisers. Frost has also severely underestimated his opponent, and is going to need to turn things around quickly if he has any chance of being successful.

Frost/Nixon was nominated for 5 Academy Awards in 2009, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, and Lead Actor (Frank Langella), and it’s easy to see why. The performances are stellar, with the two leads really embodying Nixon and Frost in a way that feels authentic and not caricatures. The film not only recreates these famous TV interviews, but also explores the people behind them on both sides. The interviews themselves are like watching a verbal boxing match. Each time there is a pause in the interview, both sides go back to their respective corners and talk strategy with their teams, before returning to the ring (armchairs) to verbally duke it out.

In the original stage play, there was a narrator to periodically set the stage and let the viewer know what was going on. The film instead makes use of some archival footage to initially set the stage, and throughout the film cuts to interviews and testimonials from some of the side characters—who are appearing in some documentary about the event some years later—to let the viewer know what’s going on, or add some additional levity. At times it kind of reminded me of The Office, where someone will make a comment in the interview and then we cut to what really happened, or we see the event followed by some humorous interjection by one of the characters. While exploring the behind-the-scenes drama as both sides prepare for this historic interviews, the film also has some other comedic moments, such as Bob Zelnick doing a spot-on Nixon impression. Overall, I found all this behind-the-scenes drama, as well as the interview themselves, to be quite captivating and entertaining.

Mill Creek’s Blu-ray release features solid video and audio. The picture looks quite clean with varying levels of detail. In some scenes, the closeups looks slightly flatter than others, but never to such a degree that it affects the enjoyment of the film. The intercut interviews have a slightly yellow tone and are a bit grainier, and some of the archival footage (understandably) doesn’t look as good as the film itself. This is a dialogue-driven movie without any huge audio spectacles, but the audio track provides clear dialogue throughout.

Universal had previously released the film on Blu-ray in 2009. Almost all of the bonus material from that release has been ported over to this re-release by Mill Creek. This consists of nearly an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews, 34 minutes of deleted scenes, and a director’s commentary. The only thing missing are the “U Control – Picture-In-Picture” features (though the content used for these likely comes from the other featurettes). The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover or a digital copy.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:01:52)

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• The Nixon Chronicles (8:22)
  Side-by-side clips from the actual final Frost/Nixon interview and the film’s re-creation. Using the audio button on the remote, the viewer can switch between the film audio and the original interview audio.
• Discovering Secrets (13:17)
  The filmmakers talk about the events of the film, recreating the drama for the movie, the pre-recording small talk with Nixon, shooting in the original locations such as La Casa Pacifica, The Beverly Hilton & The Smith House, getting the cooperation of the Nixon Library, Nixon’s piano playing, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producer/director Ron Howard, Sir David Frost, director of photography Salvatore Totino, production designer Michael Corenblith, home owners Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and star Frank Langella (“Richard Nixon”).
• The Making of Frost/Nixon (22:56)
  The cast and filmmakers give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. They discuss going from stage to film, casting the movie and portraying real people, using improv, Frank Langella remaining in character the whole time on set, Oliver Platt’s Richard Nixon impression, the costumes, the production design, staging the scenes, and more. Includes interviews with producer/director Ron Howard, executive producer/screenwriter Peter Morgan, producer Brian Grazer, Sir David Frost, executive producer Todd Hallowell, costume designer Daniel Orlandi, director of photography Salvatore Totino, production designer Michael Corenblith, and stars Michael Sheen (“David Frost”), Frank Langella, Matthew McFadyen (“John Birt”), Oliver Platt (“Bob Zelnick”), Sam Rockwell (“James Reston Jr.”), Kevin Bacon (“Jack Brennan”) & Rebecca Hall (“Caroline Cushing”).
• The Real Interview (7:28)
  The filmmakers talk about their reactions when watching the original interviews, how this adaptation of the play and interviews came about, recreating the look of the interviews, and more. This is intercut with footage from the actual final interview. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producer/director Ron Howard, production designer Michael Corenblith, author James Reston Jr., director of photography Salvatore Totino, and stars Frank Langella & Kevin Bacon.
• The Nixon Library (6:20)
  A peek inside and a look at the history of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum with executive director John H. Taylor and assistant executive director Kathy O’Connor. They discuss some of initial controversy about finding a location for the museum, some things that people may not appreciate about Nixon, and more.
• Deleted Scenes (34:09)
  Collection of 15 deleted/extended scenes play back-to-back. Presented in 4:3 letterboxed format.
• Feature Commentary (2:01:52)
  Director/producer Ron Howard provides an interesting and informative commentary throughout the film. He talks about the process of adapting the play into a movie, using an interview format to replace the play’s narration, and shares lots of behind-the-scenes stories about the production and insights on the events portrayed in the film. He also discusses cast, filming locations, and more.
• Trailer (2:27)

Final Thoughts:

Frost/Nixon is an engaging dramatic recreation of the events surrounding David Frost’s historic interviews with former president Nixon, that can be very tense at one moment and quite humorous in the next. It features stellar performances by Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, as well as a talented supporting cast. The film does an excellent job of recreating the events and the era. It may be an adaptation of a play, but it definitely feels more like a feature film. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray release features solid picture and sound as well as a great selection of bonus material ported from the previous Blu-ray release. For those who already own Universal’s previous disc release, there is no need to re-purchase. However this is a solid option for anyone who doesn’t already own this quality movie.