Nixon resigned the presidency on August 8, 1974, the day after my 18th birthday, and 12 days before I first arrived in the United States as a foreign exchange student. So I never experienced the Nixon hardship the country was going through, and I was not in the country in the spring of 1977 when the Front interviews took place. I had missed that.
I enjoyed watching events that occurred during my coming of age, and some of the footage provided me with flashbacks to my youth.
Clearly, some of this, albeit based on actual events in a historical context, is fictionalized. However, we get a sense of Nixon’s character, and we are in awe of his shrewdness and smooth operator mannerisms. It looked like he was just playing with Frost, that Frost was way out of his league. Only through intense pressure, focus and excellent research did Frost eventually turn things around and make history.
Nixon was a bad president, of course, history has proven that, and his legacy is unique in our history. But somehow he seems more presidential than George Bush does to me right now. I found myself comparing this guy to Bush. I questioned the soundness of our political system that creates men like these and elevates them to the pinnacle. How does this keep happening?
I learned much watching Front/Nixon, a Ron Howard movie. And I enjoyed it immensely. I think it will win awards.
Rating: ****