ShareThisForget a cast of thousands or mega-budget special effects. All you need for two hours of compelling drama are a couple of excellent actors, firebrand dialogue and a whole lot of penetrating close-ups that catch the sweat of the brow.
Based on the Peter Morgan play, "Frost/Nixon" chronicles British journalist David Frost's risky efforts to snag a series of interviews with the disgraced former president in 1977.
Frank Langella has already won a Tony for best actor in the role of Richard Nixon, to be followed shortly by an Oscar nomination.
Michael Sheen plays British talk show host David Frost, a jetsetter whom the film depicts as the Ryan Seacrest of his day before the Nixon interviews.
That all changed when Frost one-upped the American press by landing his exclusive with the practically exiled Nixon, coaxing him into an ethically questionable ad-sponsored $600,000 deal to spill his guts for a TV special.
The film goes behind the broadcast to show the preparation that went into the confrontation.
The drama plays out like a boxing match, with questioner and subject plotting their courses of action, facing each other down and retreating between sessions to lick wounds, seek encouragement and refine strategy.
Frost, who put his career and several thousand dollars of his own money on the line to land the interview, seeks to give the public the Watergate conviction that Tricky Dick eluded with Gerald R. Ford's pardon.
Nixon, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to steamroll a man he saw as a puffball hack to validate his presidency and restore his image.
Langella captures Nixon's bulldog command, going beyond imitation into inhabitation. Sheen is nearly equally as strong just for holding his own in the face of Langella's radiance.
Coming off the overbearing glitz of "The Da Vinci Code," director Ron Howard goes back to basics, telling a very direct and human story with a documentary like approach. "Frost/Nixon" truly shines as a barebones filmmaking exercise. Howard and his actors wring subtle suspense out of natural situations, letting words, gestures and expressions dominate the screen.
The film touches on some of the journalistic and ethical hallmarks of "The Insider" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" with a story extolling the responsibility of the Fourth Estate to expose the truth, slashing through government efforts to deceive.
The film strikes with a brutal punch, making you feel the urgency of the struggle. What could have been a dull rehash is a shimmering example of courageously raw drama.
Review
"Frost/Nixon"
4 stars out of 4
? Rated: R for some language.
? Cast: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall.
? Director: Ron Howard.
? Family call: Fine for politically astute teens. Disregard the R rating for incidental foul language.
? Running time: 122 minutes.
(Phil Villarreal can be reached at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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