Clash of the Titans

 Interesting little factoid for you; the lead actors Michael Sheen and Frank Langella played media showman David Frost and Tricky Dick respectively on stage together in the past. Moreover, Ron Howard said he would not have done the movie if he were not able to get the pair for his adaptation of Peter Morgan's play of post-Watergate Nixon Interviews conducted in '77 after Nixon abandoned the presidency and got a pardon from Ford.


Regretfully, I don't have oodles of money and I may never see the intensity these two men on stage replicated, but if I may be so bold, this film replaces what may have been more than adequately.








Who is the Spider and who is the Fly?


The movie is very much the cat-and-mouse, but is disguised by the world of politics and the media that hounds it at every turn. What started off as a run-of-the-mill interview of Nixon courtesy of Frost ended up to be the ultimate public eye trial of the disgraced former President resulting in a confession that most of America (and the world for that matter) wanted to hear. However, one truly fascinating feat this film (and Langella) achieves is giving Tricky Dick a face away from the public eye- the face of a desperate, ill yet proud man who tried to see justification in his acts only to see the traumatic results they caused. The way Frost, with the assistance of his producer and two little-known political hounds, who was regularly known to be a show pony of the airwaves transformed into Nixon's most worthy opponent in the media circuit surprised everybody, including Nixon himself.







Journalists or political assassins?


There truly is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said when it comes to praising Sheen and Langella's performances, and really, the rest of the principal cast should not be disregarded, however small their roles are compared to the leads. Special mention goes to Boomkat Favourite Kevin Bacon as Nixon's ex-secretary of defense and confidant Jack Brennan andToby Jones as political PR go-to Swifty Lazaar. If I may confess though, I was a little surprised to see Lucian from Underworld without his scruffy beard.







Is this even the same guy?!


Joking aside, while I'm not the person to speak with regarding politics, it's difficult to ignore the fact that the events of the film occured (give or take artistic license) and sometimes, you don't need explosions, gunfire, contrived plots and other embellishments to make an effective and suspenseful political thriller, regardless if it's source is a stage play and not a Robert Ludlum or John Grisham publication. It is a little heart-breaking too that Langella did not win Best Actor because his monologue over the phone to Sheen is one of the best I have recently heard.


Good show Mr. Howard, Sheen, Langella and co. You Are Not Crooks.


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OT: I don't know about you, but I really do fancy Sheen, especially as Lucian: