Frost/Nixon

If only two people could be nominated for an award together. That would be the perfect scenario with Frost/Nixon. Frank Langella as Richard Nixon gets the big showy performance with an incredible monologue during one off the most powerful phone call conversations to be captured on film and Langella deserves all of the accolades coming his way as he gives us a Richard Nixon who is smart, funny, nasty and accountable. However, Michael Sheen as David Frost is every bit as good. He does not have the big Oscar moments, but his performance is a study in nuance and subtlety and he is just as deserving. Together, though, they are a whole other animal. Each of their scenes pop with energy, intensity and if there was a way for them to be nominated as a collective, it would serve them both nicely.

David Frost is a playboy talk show host with dreams of interviewing Richard Nixon right after Nixon resigned the presidency. No network believes it will happen and Frost has to try and raise the money and conduct the interview. He hires a "crack investigative" team to help research and plan and they land the interview. The interview takes place over 4 2 hour sessions, spread out over a few weeks. The contract allows for certain things and both sides must stick to it. Nixon thinks he can use the interview to rebuild his reputation and Frost, at first, just wants the ratings and the glory of the American audience. However, he also wants to get Nixon to admit wrong doing.

The movie is told sort of documentary style in parts, with most of the players speaking directly to the camera, as if they have been asked questions about what was going to happen or what happened. The 4 interview scenes are perfectly paced and we get a very good idea as what is going on inside the heads of the two combatants. Kevin Bacon, as Nixon's right hand man deserves some consideration this awards seasons for his performance as a man willing to follow Nixon until the very end. Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt add some great drama and comedy as the team assembled by Frost to prepare him for the interview. I was expecting to feel bored at some point, but Ron Howard really kept the action moving, even within scenes. He displays a confidence in his material and is not interested in getting in the way of his actors, the story of the wonderful script. He is a facilitator in this project and he understands his role and makes the most of it.

Frost/Nixon continues a trend for me this fall/winter: great movies that are just missing something to make them better than great. I could not put my finger on it with Frost/Nixon, but it joins Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in that category. There is nothing technically wrong with Frost/Nixon. Everything is sound and it all functions perfectly, but there is element missing, a sense of cinematic wonder or surprise.

Final Grade: A-