Frost/Nixon *** Spoilers ***

Re: Frost/Nixon

FROST:  So what in a sense, you're saying is that there are certain situations, and the Huston Plan or that part of it was one of them, where the president can decide that it's in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.

NIXON: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.

FROST: By definition.

NIXON: Exactly. Exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president's decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they're in an impossible position.

Good get, F_B.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

Why did Ford pardon him?

He had to know he was flushing any chance of a legacy he might have.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

If the deal wasn't spelled out, it was certainly implicit.

"Put it behind us", my ass.

Not. Ever.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

I'm not sure about there having been a deal, explicit or implicit, at least not a quid pro quo for Ford's being VP.
I think Ford was just a goodhearted schlub who thought he was doing the right thing.
He was wrong, but...

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

I think the rationale was is that a criminal prosecution of Nixon would tie up the national discourse and keep the country harking back to the scandal. I think he just saw it as a way for the country to move forward. And I don't necessarily disagree with that. Ford's action further emphasizes how verminous of a bottom-feeder Kenneth Starr was.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

Nixon's quote has a little more context than the movie does. Not defending it - just saying that Frost understood what Nixon meant - may not have agreed, but tracked his quote...instead of, in the movie, being stunned by the very idea of it.

It's a fair film. Not great. Fair.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

The bigger question should have been Why did Ford pardon him before seeking re-election?

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

Agree with all this.

I do remember on the day it happened, my mother -- who was utterly non-political if a Kennedy wasn't involved -- was extremely pissed off, which surprised me.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

You're probably right, but I don't understand this. How would Frost be a supporting role in Frost/Nixon? I don't get lead actor/supporting actor nonsense. Is it just what the producer wants? I mean, Judi Dench once won a supporting actress Oscar for, what, eight lines of dialogue? Tilda Swinton hardly did anything in Michael Clayton and won a supporting actress Oscar. How is that comparable to what Sheen did as Frost, or Ledger as the Joker? Those are BOTH lead roles. Each movie had TWO lead characters. To call either one a "supporting" role is ludicrous.

Not that these awards in general aren't ludicrous, but still...

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

More context is a fair distance from "never spoken."
And Nixon plainly meant what everyone has taken from what he said. The Huston Plan was so egregiously illegal that it scared both John Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover, neither of whom was a row of daisies. Your point on what the movie makes of Frost's reaction is well-taken.

 

Re: Frost/Nixon

I liked it. I did not see greatness, but I liked it.

Sheen did a nice job, but I just didn't see Frost in him, at least the David Frost I came to know through his '60s talk shows.