For all the authenticity, though, the "Frost/Nixon" movie is much like the "Frost/Nixon" play: a speculative reinterpretation of an actual event, slices of real dialogue mixed with invented conversations, all aimed at unearthing larger ideas about power, vanity, reputation -- and truth.
Even though a politician sits at the center of the story, "Frost/Nixon" is less interested in government than psychology.
"These are two lone wolves," Howard says of Frost and Nixon. "It's this crucial moment in both of these characters' lives -- and it's a very revealing period because it highlights their strengths and weaknesses."
A change in the lineup?
While Howard and Sheen might have been in for the film adaptation, the future was murkier for Langella. Howard and Grazer seriously considered replacing the "Dracula" veteran in the movie with Warren Beatty.
Langella describes what must have been a painful situation rather dispassionately. "I am not a kid. I accept what is," he says. "The role was mine to do in London. It was mine to do in New York. And I knew it might not have been mine in the future. I understood that they wanted a star of international stature."
Universal Studios President Ron Meyer even called Langella to tell him Beatty had the role. The "Reds" star and filmmaker, who has a history of seemingly limitless stalling before committing to a part, proved too potentially problematic for Howard and Grazer. They soon reconsidered Langella.
"Frank actually called and said, 'Do I need to audition?' " Howard says. "I told him, 'You are auditioning every night onstage.' " Langella not only won the film role but also a Tony award for his stage performance.
While Morgan's screenplay diverged in places from his play -- primarily because he was now able to show off-screen events only alluded to onstage -- the heart of the story remained the same.
All the better for Howard, who was directing actors who had been playing the roles for months on end; Sheen and Langella took just four days off from their Broadway "Frost/Nixon" close to the start of filming.
But Howard was not interested in restaging a theater piece. "I felt the biggest thing that I could do was to really develop a deeper sense of the relationship between the principals and their teams -- their corner men, to use Peter Morgan's boxing analogy -- which is something the play didn't really have time to develop," Howard says.
So rather than use Frost advisor James Reston Jr. and Nixon loyalist Jack Brennan as narrators (as they essentially were in the play), they became larger characters in Howard's movie -- Reston played by Sam Rockwell, Brennan by Kevin Bacon. The rest of the film's cast includes Toby Jones as Nixon's agent, Irving "Swifty" Lazar, and Rebecca Hall as Frost's leggy girlfriend, Caroline Cushing.
"Ultimately, I hope it brings into focus an interesting point about modern society. It used to be that powerful figures could operate with impunity," Howard said. "The movie is saying that's not acceptable -- that the truth is important."
--
john.horn@latimes.com
