DISQUS

Film School Rejects: Frank Langella is a Tricky Dick in the First Frost/Nixon Trailer

  • Aleric · 1 year ago
    Gee, I wonder how they are going to portray Nixon with Ron Hoard who is a known Liberal......
  • Mister Hand · 1 year ago
    He'll probably portray Nixon as he was, Aleric: a rather tragic figure with human flaws. Otherwise, it won't be much of a movie.
  • Cole Abaius · 1 year ago
    Given my affiliations and groups I may or may not have worked for here in DC, I have to stand up for Nixon a bit. The guy was very troubled, which is tough - and it's questionable whether we should allow that sort of personality near that much power, yes. But as a President, he was actually incredibly effective. Beyond Watergate, he's most known for having the most nuanced and ingenious foreign policy of pretty much any President in the 20th century. His domestic wasn't that atrocious, either.

    Had Watergate not gone down (and yes, it was his fault entirely for being involved), he probably would have been remembered as a really solid president that represented the country during a troubling time. Divisive as any other, but certainly a strong leader.
  • Aleric · 1 year ago
    I would like to believe that Hand, but I have seen too many hack jobs over the past years to beleive that any politician will be portrayed fairly or accurately.

    I agree with Cole in that Nixon did do a lot for the country at the time and was ridiculed and driven from office for lying in trying to cover up the actions of members of his party. Over the years people villified him for a lot of what they had heard from third party sources and of course the Media at the time. When the smoke cleared he was basicially convicted in the public opinion for lying. Something another president was not even held accountable and he did it in front of a grand jury and the nation.
  • Mister Hand · 1 year ago
    I don't want to get too deep into a political discussion (oh, who am I kidding? I LOVE political discussions), but Nixon's transgressions were slightly more serious than merely lying. A sort of step-by-step detail of what led to Nixon's resignation can be found here: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeac...

    If you read that, I think you'll find your comparison to Clinton a bit far-fetched.

    But you could draw many parallels to Bush.

    I think Nixon is an inherently sympathetic character. He was very smart, he worked his way up from shit to be President of the United States, and he's still the guy who eventually got us out of Vietnam. The fact that he opened up China is his most well-known and universally praised accomplishment, but he was also an advocate for the EPA and Affirmative Action.

    His downfall, ultimately, was paranoia.

    On that note, if you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend Oliver Stone's film, NIXON. I haven't seen it in a while, but my estimation of the man was actually much higher after seeing the film. If Oliver Stone can make a film sympathetic to Nixon, I think Ron Howard can certainly pull it out.