The one movie Ron Howard loved “every second of”
With 27 features under his belt, it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to call Ron Howard a journeyman filmmaker, even if it’s doing him a disservice considering the accolades to have come his way since he cut his teeth under Roger Corman to make his directorial debut on 1977’s Grand Theft Auto.
To start in the filmmaking world is always difficult, but Howard had a seriously good start. With a huge TV career already on his resume, Howard looked set to make the difficult transition from in front of the camera to behind the camera. But Howard did so seamlessly and has consistently made movies ever since.
Since his debut, he’s been established as one of the safest hands in the business, winning a pair of Academy Awards in the process when A Beautiful Mind won statues for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’. He may not have a unique and identifiable style as the majority of Hollywood’s most lauded auteurs tend to do, but he’s undeniably one of the most versatile around.
A ridiculously eclectic filmography that includes the blockbuster thrills of Backdraft, Ransom, and Solo: A Star Wars Story alongside the light-hearted comedy of Splash, mixed in with the fantasy of Willow and How the Grinch Stole Christmas amidst true-life dramatisations Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, and Rush barely even scratch the surface of how many different sandboxes Howard has played in over the years.
It’s one that fits into the latter category that provided him with one of his greatest experiences, though, as well as some of the best notices of his career. Adapted from the stage play of the same name, Frost/Nixon embraced its origins and delivered a phenomenal two-hander boasting Frank Langella and Michael Sheen on top form.
As Howard told the Directors Guild of America in no uncertain terms: “I loved making that movie, every second of it.” Shorn of any bells and whistles, it was driven almost entirely by its two central performances, leaving Howard to bestow the highest praise on the various parts that gelled to create a seamlessly cinematic stage play.
“The writing was fantastic, but there was also some improv, which was liberating for the actors,” he continued. “I encouraged a lot of spontaneity with the secondary characters, just to work in opposition to the formality of the piece as a play.” Having already played the roles on stage, it was second nature to Langella and Sheen, but Howard was still forced to think on his feet.
Revealing that he “wanted to create some throwaway stuff around that brilliant writing,” budgetary restrictions meant that the schedule was tight, forcing him and his actors to be on top form to prevent them “getting lazy or sloppy about anything”. It’s deceptively difficult to turn an engaging play into a similarly-engrossing feature film, something Frost/Nixon managed with the greatest of ease.
It was a different kind of challenge for Howard, and one that he rose to masterfully if his ‘Best Director’ nod at the Oscars was any indication, which helps explain why he loved every second of the production from start to finish.
