Starring: Frank Langella and Michael Sheen
Director: Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code)
Running Time: 2 hrs 2 min
Release Date: December 5, 2008
Budget: $25 million
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 86%
“…totally mesmerizing battle of the wills…” Premiere
“…feels cooked up…” Ty Burr, Boston Globe
A movie devoted to the post-Watergate interviews between Richard Nixon and some British talk show host could be an irrelevant snore fest, but Howard turns Frost/Nixon into a taut thriller with compelling performances by its stars who reprise their original stage roles. With each man having something to gain, the film is wrought with tension as Frost (Sheen) tries to get a confession out of Nixon (Langella). Each interview is like an individual boxing match leading up to the final interview devoted to Watergate. Nixon is like a heavyweight champion, but Langella, who won a Tony for the role, excels in coloring him as a haunted, lonely man.
Available now on DVD
