Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall

Directed by: Ron Howard

Universal Studios

The Official Site of Frost/Nixon

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The most important battles in history were won because one side underestimating their opponent. That may or may not be true but it’s a nice, flashy way to open up the review. Plus, even if it’s not statistically accurate, it’s certainly true of Frost/Nixion, the big screen adaptation of a stage play based on the controversial interviews between 1970’s TV personality David Frost and ex-President Richard Nixon. As the two entered this series of interviews each underestimated their opponent, the President expecting the entertainer to serve up a puff piece and the TV personality expecting the beaten old politician to roll over in his guilt. After suffering some serious losses, both were desperate for a big win. Of course… only one of them could walk out on top.

After Nixon’s exit from office American’s were looking for an apology from their crooked President and the whole world watched with baited breath. No one expected the talk show host from England to land the biggest interview of the decade, and even after he did no one thought he would actually ask the questions on everyone’s lips. His journey to secure the interview and establish worldwide credibility is as interesting as Nixon’s journey to regain respect in a world that didn’t trust him anymore.

Joining Peter Morgan’s original script from the play are the two men that have been living with these characters night after night since 2006. Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost have certainly found comfortable homes in these roles. Sheen, who I thought was absolutely stunning as Tony Blair in The Queen proves once again to be one of the most exciting new faces to swim across the Atlantic in years. Langella though is able to do the unthinkable by finding the humanity and humor in modern politics’ most notorious political figure. (“Most notorious AMERICAN political figure�. Pre-Bush anyway…) Langella shows us all sides of the infamous President, completely commanding the screen making you forget that he really doesn’t look all that much like the man to begin with.

I wish it weren’t so but the performances often outshine the film. Nixon expected Frost to be a pushover, satisfied simply because he got the interview. Frost expected Nixon to crumble under the hard questions forgetting that not just anyone can be elected leader of the free world (Pre-Bush anyway…) Nixon shuts down Frost’s attacks with the composure and class you’d expect from the kind of educated orator a President has to be. To be honest it kind of stalls the movie. Nixon being so good at what he does offers an unexpected conflict that should make the overall battle more interesting because a one-sided fight is a boring fight. But I found that Nixon overwhelming the opposition so effectively was less of a conflict and more of an incentive to get on with the show. Frost/Nixon turned out to be a one-sided fight after all. Just from the unexpected side.

After waiting through a thorough history lesson for the interviews to begin, Nixon’s stonewalling of Frost and his (well cast and well performed) team of researchers makes it clear that it’s the final interview focusing on Watergate that will offer the true conflict you’ve been waiting for. The build up is an hour and a half of anticipation ready to explode. Thankfully the big showdown (along with a haunting late night phone conversation before the final confrontation) proves to be the shinning moment of the film. Two heavyweights in a battle of logic and words is a heavenly thing to behold.

Frost/Nixon is a slick history lesson of an interesting topic that was perhaps better left to the simplicity of the stage where the performances are have room to shine. Because after millions of dollars spent on film, locations and marketing… the performances are still the thing most worth discussion. I think in the case of Frost Nixon I overestimated my opponent a little.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 - I’m a huge fan of Ron Howard. I think he’s one of the top ten filmmakers working today and to see his latest film sort of flounder on was a bit disappointing. I’m trying to factor in the hype surrounding the film. Deserved for the performances, Langella especially, but for the film as a whole I’d say it’s unwarranted praise.

Because of the hype there was a certain level of expectation going in. A certain level of quality. In a season of films that have had trouble hitting their mark I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised Frost/Nixon wasn’t the sure fire example of political perfection it was being rumored to be, but it’s just as likely that I’m turning into a cynical old bastard. If you’ve seen the film or are planning to I’d love to hear your thoughts over on the boards. Perhaps you caught something I missed.

Even if this were as fascinating as it were interesting I’m still not sure it would be DVD worthy. How often can you really get lost in a 30-year-old political debate? Even if the answer is “pretty darn often�, Frost/Nixon seems like the kind of movie one would enjoy more if they were to stumble upon it on TV instead of going through the effort of scheduling time for it.

This was kind of a tough one to be honest. A peek at “the lost tapes� seemed like it could be fun escape to explore though I’m not entirely sure a riveting game of Connect Four is the best joke I could have pulled from that hat. There’s something wonderfully innocent about it all but I find myself wondering how funny it could have been had I not restricted myself with a childhood game.

In the last update I said something very stupid. My biggest regret about the comment is that it took someone’s feelings getting hurt for me to see how stupid it was. The comment has been removed and to everyone that read it, especially those that were hurt by it, let me offer my most sincere apologies for a misguided and ugly attempt at humor. It was never my intentions to offend anyone and the fact that I did has really hit me. From here on out I’ll be sure to think before I type.

All the best to everyone. Hope you have an excellent weekend.