Flicks-a-saurus Rex

Frost/Nixon

Director: Ron Howard

Starring: Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Micheal Sheen as David Frost also with Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, and Oliver Platt

MPAA: Rated R for some language.

Frost/Nixon is a great film, the modern sequel to All the President’s Men (not exactly but similar). The Flicks-a-saurus Rex can definitely sink his teeth into this flick and come out very satisfied. It is a brilliant true story that takes the audience into the wake of Watergate and Nixon’s resignation from presidency.

A few notes on this film real quick; Frost/Nixon is another one of those films that cannot be rated R but it was. There is nothing in this film that is R rated. There is no nudity, no violence, and the F words in this film are no more than any PG-13 film on the market.

Also Frost/Nixon is a perfect example of what First Amendment scholars call Governance and Check on Government Power. The media, because of its protection under the freedom of speech, is a perfect check on the government because it has the power to expose corruption. Frost/Nixon shows a pivotal point in history where America’s biggest crook is given the closest thing to a trial he could ever get, and the film captures this momentous occasion perfectly.


David Frost is a talk show host a performer who decides he wants Richard Nixon on his talk show. This is his struggle to get his show aired, for the world to take his show seriously, and to show the world Richard Nixon at possibly his most candid public moment. How this movie missed an Oscar is beyond me. Everything we loved in All the President’s Men was here again. There was excellent acting, scripting, and filming.

Frank Langella was a brilliant Richard Nixon. When the movie was over and I was watching the special features I could see where Langella picked up his ideas from.
He had Nixon’s voice and attitude down to a pat. He played Nixon with a power and tragedy that made you feel contempt and pity on the man who wanted greatness but went down in a ball of fire. Michael Sheen was dwarfed by Langella, but it was perfect. He was supposed to be a talk show host who had no idea what he was getting himself into and when he faced off with Langells’s Nixon, it was like a bad match up in a boxing ring, Sheen’s David Frost was down for the count. But then he picked himself up and buckled down to business and brought the audience to a stunning climax with Nixon against the ropes.

The scrip and plot really dived in to the characters of Frost and Nixon. The movie set up the ultimate rumble in the jungle, a fight to the death where only one of the two fighters could come out of the ring on top. The struggle against the networks that David Frost was engaged in while he was also trying to prep for battle with Nixon was nail biting, and the insights into Nixon’s exile from the political realm brought a smug sense of tragedy to the audience. Frost/Nixon is a must see for anyone interested in political history or the role of media in America. This movie is an 8.5 out of ten, a delicious meal of tender, medium rare, Triceratops steaks.
If you liked All the President’s Men, this is a must see and vice versa!

Sex/Nudity - We see a naked woman get out of bed for a second, she is in shadow, and the man next to her is bare from the chest up. We also see a man skinny dipping in the ocean and we briefly get a glance at his bare buttocks.

Violence/Gore – There is news footage from the bombing in Cambodia. The images are very tragic and there is blood shown

Profanity – 5 “F” words or its derivatives and 20 other “A” or “S” words during the film. A lot of the swear words you can’t even hear unless the subtitles are on.