Monday, December 15, 2008

Frost/Nixon - B

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 122 minutes. Trailer.

I feel like the Grinch this year. I seem to like nothing, akin to the infamous "If its not Goodfellas its crap" phase Doc went through in not so recent years. In any event, Frost/Nixon was yet another letdown. The film is based on the acclaimed Broadway play of the same and tells the story of Richard Nixon's first post-resignation interview with David Frost (the Ryan Seacrest of his day). Featuring a script from Peter Morgan (The Queen), direction from Ron Howard and great acting from Frank Langella (Nixon) and Michael Sheen (Frost), this movie should have been better. Click below for more on F/N:

Howard uses lots of archival footage to set the stage for Nixon's resignation, then moves swiftly into the story of how the interview was obtained (Frost paid for it) and the preparation for the interview. Ostensibly a think piece about Nixon's legacy and how the interviews helped shape Nixon and Frost in the years to come, it turns into a generally boring and uninspired rendering of this event. Langella is right-on with his rendering of the brazen and conflicted Nixon, and he will be nominated for it. I also enjoyed Sheen in the layered role of Frost - a driven and lightweight interview seeking legitimacy and fame through the interview.

The trouble is that Nixon and all of his traits and actions have been so analyzed and depicted onscreen that it renders the film largely moot. Morgan tries to make it about the two men and the impact of their intersection, but it doesn't work. At times interesting and funny, this film is just there. Another disappointment.

2 comments:

Doctor said...

I'm kinda a sucker for these high-brow intellectual talky things. I just watched Oliver Stone's Nixon, a fascinating (if a bit erroneous) film. Stone really goes for it technically, thematically, and structurally. It's his last great film. Howard almost always plays it too safe. That's not good if you're movie is based on a play with less than charismatic leads.

Lawyer said...

This wishes it was high-brow. Pedestrian. The best writing is in the trailer. Morgan tries hard and achieves middling success on a big late night phone call between the two men, but its only about 10% as profound and moving as the filmmakers think it is.