Where were the Oscars/BAFTAS?

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2009)

Skilfully adapted by Peter Morgan from his own hit stage play, Frost/Nixon is an expertly balanced film that sees the playwright's screen tailored script combine memorably with two unfamiliar yet exceptional actors to give us one of the best and most gripping Hollywood dramas in years.
Child actor-cum-director Ron Howard has an Oscar winning flair for historical U.S bio-dramas and Frost/Nixon could well be his masterpiece. Predictable? Perhaps, but without a doubt his most charismatic and intelligent picture to date that uses a truly historical event to comment on current affairs.
If you want a modern-day sense of both the scale and importance of this 1970's political drama, then imagine Richard Hammond set loose on George Bush over a string of televised interviews and wringing out a confession over those wretched weapons of mass destruction. This, in essence, is what happened back in 1977 when chirpy British TV presenter David (Breakfast with) Frost (Michael Sheen) sealed a series of damning face-to-face interviews with fiery ex Prez Richard Nixon (Frank Langella). For three years after being forced from his presidential post over his involvement in the notorious Watergate scandals, Nixon remained silent. Officially pardoned yet publicly despised: unquestioned yet yearning for his chance to set the record "straight" and win back the hearts of the American people. So when fluffy TV funny man Frost comes along with a wad of cash and a team of 'crack investigators', baying for the ex-premier's blood, time and apology, Nixon sees his chance for a public-relations comeback. What follows is a compelling battle of wits and words between a budding TV talent trying to further his career and a shamed politician trying to justify his.
Peppered with actual footage and recordings and staged documentary-like interviews with the side characters, Frost/Nixon offers a dramatised yet authentic looking insight into the events surrounding the now legendary interviews, showing us the mentality, morals and interlocking back stories of both Frost and Nixon in the months and weeks leading up to their final showdown. The result is a dynamic duel to the death. A heavy yet light and ultimately moving affair chock full of high-quality movie moments that chill us to the bone; make us gasp, laugh and sometimes gape. A certain close-up of a rattled and wounded Nixon, eyes welled, head tilted- frozen, is up there with some of the finest and most potent pieces of cinema I've seen all year. It's a telling climax: time seems to stand still, there is complete silence, no words or score are needed- just damn good acting.
Reprising their roles from Morgan's prized play, then, are the quite brilliant Michael Sheen and Frank Langella. The latter, undoubtedly the film's crowning glory. The 71 year old plays the part of Nixon to shocking perfection. Each individual mannerism, tone and tick that set the slouched and slack cheeked politician apart come to quite excellent pass in a performance of great presence and great effort. As the forlorn yet droll Nixon, Langella gives one of the great leading performances of modern movie history but to say he outshines young Michael Sheen would be wrong. The unsung Brit sparkles as the beaming, coming-of-age underdog Frost in a buoyant, breakthrough turn that has to be regarded as a step up from his lifelike portrayal of a certain Tony Blair in Stephen Frear's The Queen. Both Sheen and Langella do more than hold their own against a subtle yet star studied supporting cast comprised by the likes of Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt and the priceless Sam Rockwell. Frost/Nixon is a very well acted film, a very well made film and, dare I say, a modern Hollywood classic in the making. See it.
Final Verdict: Ron Howard has crafted an inspired, thoroughly engaging political drama of rare value and class, time, place and intelligence. It would've been interesting to see what director Oliver Stone had in mind for a project seemingly destined for him but Howard's charm and knack for getting the best out of his cast comes up trumps in a way few could've foreseen. Langella and Sheen are dynamite. Where were the Oscars/BAFTAS?