My thoughts on why Frost/Nixon should be dumped from Best Picture.

by Blair on Jan.01, 2009, under NEWS

Having watched almost all the films in the lead running (except Button which I’m catching later today) I’m fairly surprised at one of them being considered.

main I have a big issue with the Academy nominating “Frost/Nixon” for Best Picture. My problem is not just that this is a really aggressively mediocre film as far as acting and directing. It isn’t just the psuedo-documentary style they use to explain character motivations. The film quite frankly is a lie made out of an event that happened within most of the Academy voter’s lifetimes. How on earth the Academy is considering this as “Best Picture” of the year is beyond me.

I’m going to be discussing spoilers here, if that’s even possible for a film based on such a well known historical event, but here we go.

“Frost/Nixon” is history that doesn’t even meet the standards of Made-for-HBO flicks like “John Adams,” “Band of Brothers,” and “Recount.” This certainly doesn’t have any of the accuracy of other Presidential historical dramas like “Thirteen Days” or even this year’s “W.” The film is a dishonest and misleading take on an event that was actually filmed and broadcast on television. Let’s start with the premise. Frost/Nixon portrays David Frost as the plucky underdog who must overcome the odds and win the big game at the last minute. In their version of the story, we end with Nixon confessing to the Watergate cover-up on television. Anyone who’s ever watched the actual tapes knows that he actually said the exact opposite. Further, Nixon was getting a hefty percentage of the project’s profits, so the admissions he did make were completely controlled by him to generate ratings.

This movie even has Nixon drunk-dialing David Frost late at night in his hotel room and confessing his sins while blaming it all on popular kids being mean to him in high school. Does anyone actually believe that really happened? In the final scene of the movie Nixon’s character actually turns to Frost and goes “did I really do that.” Frost looks with seriousness and replies solemnly “yes.” Sorry… nope.

Others have noticed this garbage and rightly called out the film for this nonsense. Elizabeth Drew’s article calling the film a “Dishonest Distortion of History” is definitely worth reading if you’re considering watching this flick:

But it’s because of the enormously historical importance of that period that the film raises serious questions of its legitimacy. The film’s plot is a contrivance; its telling is so riddled with departures from what actually happened as to be fundamentally dishonest; and its climactic moment is purely and simply a lie.

I definitely recommend reading the rest of her article here. What’s sad however is that usually Ron Howard’s truth-distorting Oscar bait film tricks work on Academy voters. Anyone remember “Beautiful Mind” (from the same writer who gave us “Batman & Robin.” Seriously). Well read the real life story of John Forbes Nash and see how much resemblance it bears to the corny and safe PG-13 flick Howard turned out.

The latest pundit comments however predict that Frost/Nixon remains a lock for a nomination. EW’s Dave Karger makes this rather probable analysis in the current state of the Oscar nomination race:

Oscars ‘09: Dave Karger Predicts…

BEST PICTURE
At this point, you can put money on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, and Frost/Nixon to make the cut. The fifth slot, leaving out dark horses like Revolutionary Road (too depressing), The Reader (too controversial), and WALL-E (too…cartoony), is looking like a race between two very different contenders: Doubt and The Dark Knight. The intimate, powerful Doubt racked up the most Screen Actors Guild nominations — but then again, so did Oscar also-ran Into the Wild last year. If Doubt fails to excite the non-acting majority of the Academy, a certain commercial and critical smash might just end up with a Best Picture nod to add to its half-billion dollar gross.

It is disappointing and I hope some Academy voters take a good long hard look at “Frost/Nixon” before just handing it an honor it most definitely does not deserve.

25 comments for this entry:

Bruce Laerd
January 1st, 2009 on 7:06 pm
I also saw this film. Indeed, the Academy should re-consider of nominating it. they should nominate “the wrestler” instead.

The Curious Case Ben Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler

Cool!
R W O
January 1st, 2009 on 7:37 pm
I didn’t watch The Wrestler, but Seven Pounds is an okay movie. It should be nominated. And no way for Frost/Nixon or Gran Torino !!! I slept during watching Frost/Nixon cause there’s too much blah blah blah !!!

The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Wall-E
Curious case of Benjamin Button

I’m not sure about Seven Pounds or Doubt.
Tracey
January 1st, 2009 on 7:37 pm
I stand by my opinion that Frost/Nixon is as historically accurate as Face/Off.

On a more positive note, I do think Milk is a great film. Seeing that and Dark Knight nominated would make me very happy.

I’m hoping to see the rest soon. The Wrestler looks very interesting and I’ve heard great things about Button and Slumdog.
Jonathan
January 1st, 2009 on 10:54 pm
first off, i wanna praise all of the guys helping with this site. the case film is truly spectacular and this whole site finally shows america and the rest of the world that actions speak louder than words and that the academy should listen up. keep up the great work!

now, i have not seen slumdog, milk, nor frost/nixon, but i have great things about them (until now with f/n,). this is my personal thought on what the oscars should look like:

The Dark Knight
Button
Milk
slumdog
Frost/Nixon, Wall-E, or Wrestler, it could come down to those

also, i will be very upset if heath isnt nomitated/is nominated and doesnt win. THAT performance surely deserves an oscar by far.
Eric
January 2nd, 2009 on 12:39 am
If you head over to http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20007870_20164474_20249429,00.html
entertainment weeklys oscar predictions have the dark knight grabbing 3 oscar noms…best picture, best director, best supporting actor…after seeing some of the awful golden globe noms i was starting to lose hope but this helped restore a little bit for me, although the website does think that TDK will be in a very tight race for the 5th spot for best picture
Kevin T. Rodriguez
January 2nd, 2009 on 2:29 am
While you do present some solid points at the end of the day here’s what matters most: Was the movie entertaining? And while I know what you say is true, and while I wish I could just ignore the film, it was ultimately a movie I enjoyed greatly. I know, I despite myself, but what can I say: When Ron Howard works, he really works, no matter what he has to twist to get that effect.
Tracey
January 2nd, 2009 on 11:34 am
I feel like if you have to dramatically change history to make your telling of a story “entertaining” then it’s not actually “entertaining”.

I thought Thirteen Days was very entertaining and that story wasn’t jazzed up with monologues and the writer/director’s perspective on what they thought should have happened. Had it ended with us invading cuba and the world consumed by nuclear war, I’d have the same problem with Thirteen Days that I do with Frost/Nixon.

I’d like to see fiction rewarded for inventive storytelling and development and films based on history be rewarded for the balance between its ability to be compelling and its commitment to truth, reality and history. Blurring the lines, as in this case, leaves me feeling cheated.
brideofjoker
January 2nd, 2009 on 12:48 pm
Kevin: “Well it entertained me” is a fine defense, but when we’re talking about nominating the Best Picture of 2008, you have to call the movie out for claiming to inform when it’s actually grossly distorting the facts because the writer and director couldn’t figure out how to make the truth interesting. That’s their failing.
Kevin T. Rodriguez
January 2nd, 2009 on 1:32 pm
To say something has to be truthful is cutting the art of film making short. You think of “Titanic,” “Gone With The Wind,” “The Last Emperor,” “Born on the 4th of July,”etc, etc…well, all of a sudden the list of movies that took great liberties with the actual events start to add up. Also “Frost/Nixon” moved me. I felt sympathy for Nixon, which is something that’s hard to do for me.

I also liked the intensity of the inviews. I want to make it clear that I still want “The Dark Knight” to win BP, but nominating “Frost/Nixon” would be completely fine in my book.
Bruce Laerd
January 2nd, 2009 on 7:29 pm
I just saw Ben Button, it reminds me of Forest Gump. Clearly, The Dark Knight is the Best Picture of 2008. I’m afraid that history my repeat itself for the Best Picture race… Forest Gump over Shawshank Redemption, Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas, Ordinary People over Raging Bull.

I really hope, the Academy this time, vote the most deserving film of 2008… The Dark Knight
Rayne
January 3rd, 2009 on 5:27 am
To Webmaster,

Try sending an article to “www.mania.com” and “www.kryptonsite.com” I know both the webmasters there, and many people go to the sites. That will help spread the word.
Rayne
January 3rd, 2009 on 5:46 am
Check this out. Cut and paste this address into your browser:

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-G.d62PcwaaVTjYz1ipBcS8nXHXE-?cq=1
Tracey
January 3rd, 2009 on 2:43 pm
Just watched Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler over the weekend. Both were very good.

I’m going to go with my list so far as:
The Dark Knight
Milk
The Wrestler
Slumdog Millionaire

As it is so far, my 5th pick would be Wall•e. I actually liked that a lot more than Frost/Nixon. Unless I can nominate the actual Frost/Nixon tapes, all 24 hours
Carson Dyle
January 3rd, 2009 on 4:23 pm
Erm…Frost/Nixon isn’t duty bound to tell the truth. It’s not a documentary. You should never go into a narrative film expecting truth…you’ll never get it. Frost/Nixon turns its protagonists into characters, not caricatures, and the main attraction of the film is seeing the two of them clash and verbally spar. Unless a film opens with “All of what follows is true” or something, you can’t really hold its lack of truth against it…because it’s never claiming to be the truth. Look at Oliver Stone’s JFK: A lot of it is farce, but the fact of the matter is, it’s a superbly made film. Now, Frost/Nixon is no JFK, but it’s not trying to be. The performances in it, particularly that of Sheen, are top-notch, and it’s wonderfully written. The drunk phone-call is completely made up…Morgan has said that several times. Again, it’s…not supposed to be the truth. Look, I wholeheartedly endorse this campaign, and I’d say that The Dark Knight is certainly the best film of the year, but a really, really bad way to go about campaigning FOR one film is to start unreasonably attacking other ones. That’s infantile.
Rayne
January 3rd, 2009 on 11:56 pm
Entertainment Weekly Magazine picks The Dark Knight as a Nominee for Oscar!!!
WillyJoel
January 5th, 2009 on 1:17 pm
Guys! one more reason to celebrate, the Producers Guild of America has nominated The Dark Knight as one of the top 5 contenders for the prestigious Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award.
The Academy usually uses these nominations as a template for their nominations for Best Picture.
THE DARK KNIGHT FOR THE WIN!!!!!

source: The Hollywood Reporter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i27e6523c216f71f783a48d52586d83be
WillyJoel
January 5th, 2009 on 1:21 pm
Now let’s just hope that the Directors Guild of America nominates Chris Nolan for his fantastic work. The DGA announces their nominees on Thursday, January 8.
Garrett
January 5th, 2009 on 6:26 pm
Funny, but no one ever questioned the accuracy of Amadeus when it went on to win Best Picture.
Tom
January 5th, 2009 on 8:39 pm
Throw Let the Right One In in the mix along with TDK and I’d be happy. Here are my best picture predictions.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire (basically what the PGA had)

And here’s what I wish they would be

The Dark Knight
Let The Right One In
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall e
vampyra
January 7th, 2009 on 1:44 am
I haven’t seen Frost/Nixon, yet but I intend to. Many films based on a historical event or person take liberties with the truth. But this should not detract from the entertainment value of the film. If you can sympathise with the characters or identify somehow with them, then the film has set out what it’s supposed to do. There are a lot of interesting movies out there for me to see, and I can’t wait. Living in a country town we get films a bit later than city folk. But having said all that I still want The Dark Knight to win. Why because it thoroughly entertained me, and that’s exactly what a fantasty film should do. Yes it’s fantasy,comic book hero movie, but it’s thought provoking too. And that raises it above others of this genre. I would be really thrilled if The Dark Knight won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger or Aaron Ekhart.
Enoch Allen
January 7th, 2009 on 10:42 am
No way in hell for Frost/Nixon. Please, Academy, no Frost/Nixon for Best Picture.

I’m just waiting to launch a lifetime boycott of the Oscars if The Dark Knight is left out of the running for Best Picture. Dude, it doesn’t even have to WIN. . .just let it be nominated and I’ll at least be tuning in to Next Year’s Oscars.

I don’t think I will, ever again in my lifetime, campaign as hard for a film to be recognized in this way as I have (and passionately, at that) for TDK. This is AMPAS’s one chance to not screw with the already dwindling numbers of moviegoers paying attention to the Oscars.
Enoch Allen
January 7th, 2009 on 10:47 am
My Oscar predictions for Best Pic:

The Dark Knight
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Blair
January 7th, 2009 on 10:07 pm
There’s a difference between interpreting history that isn’t documenting, and specifically altering documented and televised events because you can’t figure out how to make it dramatic.
Nic
January 19th, 2009 on 4:55 pm
Frost/Nixon is a good film. It is superbly acted and well written, and the distortion of the truth is par for the course in biopics and historical films. Why the sudden backlash towards Frost/Nixon? It’s my favourite of the Oscar films so far (though have yet to see Slumdog), and as much as I’d love to see TDK and WALL-E nominated for Best Picture (both deserve it), I believe Frost/Nixon does as well. Oh, and The Reader is a piece of shit.
Nic
January 19th, 2009 on 4:56 pm
my best picture choices would be

WINNER: The Dark Knight

ALSO NOMINATED

WALL-E
Frost/Nixon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Never going to happen, but one can always hope.