Frost\Nixon Page #11

I'm sorry?

That's what I believe.

Oh, my God.

But I realize no one

else shares that view.

So, in that case, will you accept, then,

to clear the air once and for all,

that you were part of a cover-up

and that you did break the law?

Oh, my God, we got him. I...

Sh*t!

Okay, let's take a break there.

What the f*** is going on?

Cut it. Cut it.

Excuse me? Shut it down.

Shut it down now.

That's not my call. You're gonna

have to talk to the director.

He's in that truck out

there. Get him in here.

Listen, we have an issue in here.

Jack, what are you doing? A break?

Change the tapes.

David, can I talk to

you for a minute, please?

What the hell is going on, Jack?

He was about to blow and you know it.

Fellas, this is a critical

moment in his life.

You realize we could sue you for this?

You have deliberately

sabotaged the interview, Jack.

Look, we're all in this together.

I'm sure we can find a solution.

A solution? What the hell are you

talking about? It's an interview!

Bob, may I remind you...

This is a breach of

contract. We could sue.

For heaven's sake, Jim. Why

don't you give him a week off?

Give him a year off!

Give him a f***ing massage!

Watch your language,

for crying out loud.

What'd you do? Throw in the towel, Jack?

Did you take pity on me?

Sir, I just felt that

if you were going to make some

kind of emotional disclosure,

that we should just take a moment

to think it through, sketch it out.

I just want to impress upon you

how crucially important this moment is

and how many potentially

devastating consequences

unplanned emotional

disclosures could have.

I know.

But to go on and carry

on denying it all...

I appreciate the gesture.

We ought to call it a snafu.

Jack, are we on?

We're on. Okay, he's had

plenty of time to cook up

some sort of slippery new

bullshit, so stay on your toes.

Listen, it's gonna be fine.

Pick up where you left off.

Thirty seconds, everyone.

Ten seconds.

David? Four, three, two, and...

Mr. President, we were talking about

the period March 21 to April 30,

and the mistakes you made,

and so on, and I was wondering

would you go further than "mistakes"?

The word that seems not enough

for people to understand.

Well, what word would you express?

My goodness.

All right.

Since you've asked me, I

think there are three things

that people would like to hear you say.

One, that there was

probably more than mistakes.

There was wrongdoing.

And, yes, it might

have been a crime, too.

Secondly, that "I did abuse

the power I had as President."

And thirdly, "I put the American people

"through two years of needless agony,

"and I apologize for that."

And I know how difficult it is

for anyone, especially you,

but I think the people need to hear it.

And I think that unless you say it,

you're going to be haunted

for the rest of your life.

Well, it's true. I made

mistakes, horrendous ones,

ones that were not

worthy of a president,

ones that did not meet

the standards of excellence

that I always dreamed of as a young boy.

But, if you remember,

it was a difficult time.

I was caught up in a five-front war

against a partisan media, a

partisan House of Congress,

a partisan Ervin Committee.

But, yes, I will admit there were times

I did not fully meet that responsibility

and I was involved in a

cover-up, as you call it.

And for all those mistakes

I have a very deep regret.

No one can know what it's

like to resign the presidency.

Now,

if you want me to get down

on the floor and grovel...

No! Never!

I still insist they were

mistakes of the heart.

They were not mistakes of the head.

But they were my mistakes.

I don't blame anybody.

I brought myself down.

I gave them a sword,

and they stuck it in,

and they twisted it with relish.

And I guess if I'd been in their

place, I'd have done the same thing.

And the American people?

I let them down.

I let down my friends.

I let down the country.

And worst of all,

I let down our system of government.

And the dreams of all those young people

that ought to get into government,

but now they think, "It's all

too corrupt," and the rest.

Yeah.

I let the American people down,

and I'm gonna have to

carry that burden with me

for the rest of my life.

My political life is over.

You know, the first and greatest

sin or deception of television

is that it simplifies, it diminishes,

great, complex ideas, tranches of time.

Whole careers become

reduced to a single snapshot.

At first, I couldn't understand why

Bob Zelnick was quite as euphoric

as he was after the interviews,

or why John Birt felt

moved to strip naked

and rush into the ocean to celebrate.

But that was before I really understood

the reductive power of the close-up.

Because David had

succeeded on that final day

in getting, for a fleeting moment,

what no investigative journalist,

no state prosecutor,

no judiciary committee

or political enemy had managed to get.

Richard Nixon's face,

swollen and ravaged by Ioneliness,

self-Ioathing and defeat.

The rest of the project and its

failings would not only be forgotten,

they would totally cease to exist.

Who came out on top, Mr. President?

Is this what you call a dachshund?

Mmm-hmm.

Very sweet.

The NixonlFrost interviews

were wildly successful.

I think they attracted the

largest audience for a news program

in the history of American television.

David was on the cover of Time

magazine and Newsweek magazine.

And even the political press corps,

the hard-bitten political press corps,

called David up with messages

of contrition and congratulation.

David, I want to say congratulations.

The interviews?

No, I didn't watch them. I couldn't.

Hey.

Hello.

I believe David saw the former

President just one more time.

Before he left California

for London again,

he drove down to San

Clemente to say goodbye.

Hey, Mr. Frost. It's nice to see you.

Miss Cushing. Hello.

Please excuse my golf outfit.

It's the official

uniform of the retired.

Are you on your way home?

Yes.

Into a bright new dawn of fresh

enterprises and challenges, eh?

Well, let's hope so.

Good for you.

I didn't catch the

interviews as they went out,

but they tell me that

they were a great success.

I gather the journalists

that were so positive

about you weren't so kind to me.

Yes, I was sorry to see that.

There's no condolences necessary.

I've grown to expect nothing

else from those sons of whores.

Yeah.

Jeez, please forgive me, Miss Cushing.

You know, I would've

said "sons of b*tches,"

but Manolo here is a lover of dogs,

and he hates me to defame animals.

Can I get something for somebody?

Yes. Would you like

some tea or champagne?

Hey, you know, we got that

caviar the Shah of Iran sent me.

No, thank you. You sure?

Come on. It'll be no trouble at all.

No, really, we must be...

Okay, fine, fine. Thanks for coming by.

You were a worthy opponent.

Goodbye, Mr. President.

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