Frost/Nixon (2008)

Directed by Ron Howard and adopted by Peter Morgan from his own stage play, "Frost/Nixon" works gangbusters out of material mined a hundred times before. It's a pulsating boxing film with the punches coming in words, and damage done to egos and souls, not bodies.

In one corner is Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), the disgraced U.S. president who (in the film) openly declares he doesn't like or trust other people. In the other corner is David Frost (Michael Sheen), a so-so British talk show host more comfortable picking up young women and having fun.

The film opens with Nixon resigning his presidency as Frost watches the news unfold while on the set of a crappy Australian show he hosts. Frost sees an immediate angle -- if he lands an interview with Nixon, his flagging career will sky rocket. Much of the film's first half is setting up and preparing for the interview. Frost hires a Washington insider (Oliver Platt) and a political academic (Sam Rockwell) to help him.

Meanwhile, Nixon is rallied by his loyalist aides (including Kevin Bacon in a blazing performance as a fascist homophobe) who believe Nixon is not only innocent but the second greatest person behind Christ. The final interview is a dazzling tit-for-tat as Howard's camera cuts between Langella and Sheen battling over what power a president should hold, the rights of Americans and what truth means.

Langella looks nothing like Nixon, but the actor is brilliant in a damning and yet unusually sympathetic portrayal of Nixon. Seriously, this film chalks up more sympathy for Nixon than any drama I've ever seen. But it doesn't let the man off the hook. Sheen for his part excels as a television performer who must dig deep to find his spine and his moral outrage.

The men are played as opposites of one fame-seeking persona. The film isn't quite a masterpiece, but Morgan's screenplay crackles with history, suspense, hidden agendas, backhanded remarks and all the glory/crap of politics, while Howard is at the top of his game.

The cinematography pops, with grains and glare of a 1970s thriller. A-