'Frost/Nixon' review

Frank Langella (Credit: Ralph Nelson/Universal)

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Writer Peter Morgan ("The Queen") adapts his play based on the real-life interviews President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) gave to British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) in 1977. The film charts Frost's years of working to secure TV offers and financing and leads up to his multi-part interviews with the shamed President, which generated more than 28 hours of footage and famously concluded with Nixon accepting responsibility for the Watergate scandal.

The buzz: America needs another Nixon movie like it needs another Nixon. But in the final weeks of a President who managed an even lower approval rating than the only Prez to resign his office, it doesn't hurt to reflect on the mindset of a leader after his people have lost faith. Is a populist director like Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind") the right man for the job?

The verdict: Turning a 1-on-1 interview into a heavyweight bout of strategy and defense, "Frost/Nixon" includes needless talk-to-the-camera interviews and is less than exhilarating in its time before the two contenders sit down to battle. When they do, the movie becomes something far more fascinating, breaking down the barrier between journalists and politicians and positioning them simply as two linked bodies responsible for a commitment to truth and the American people. Langella's performance is a revelation, as his Nixon is pervasively creepy yet strangely human and personable—always tricky and always selling, trying never to show his hand.

Did you know? Nixon claims that "the unhappiest people of the world" are retired. If kicking back on the beach with a drink and no responsibility is considered being unhappy, bring it on!

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