Frost/Nixon - Mini-review

'Tis Oscar season, and all the heavy hitters come out in December. The holiday
season for me was a chance to catch up on all the fantastic movies released just in time to beat the Oscar deadline.

Frost/Nixon stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, and Michael Sheen as interviewer David Frost. I just love these mano a mano acting films. These two actors also played the same roles in the play in London and on Broadway. Frank Lingella won a Tony for his amazing portrayal as Nixon, and he's likely to get an Oscar nomination as well. Ron Howard made it a condition that both original actors from the play be in the movie. There are some other great actors, too == Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Bacon.

I heard David Frost interviewed on NPR, and he says that the play and the movie exaggerate his underdog status to make for heightened drama. It is true that he had to put his own money on the line to make this interview happen.

Michael Sheen is an accomplished theater actor, but is best known to American audiences for playing Tony Blair in The Queen. I've heard a rumor that he might play Tony Blair again in an upcoming film. I just saw a commercial for the third Underworld film, and had no idea that he's had a major role in that action vampire series since the first one. I'll have to add those to my Netflix queue, especially since Bill Nighy is in them, too. It was bugging me that he had been in something else familiar, and I hit my forehead, D'oh!, when I read on IMDB that he was Lord Oliver, one of the bad guys in Timeline, one of my favorite films.

Frank Langella is a character actor, recently playing Perry White in Superman Returns. It's so great to see him get the chance to play such a big role on film. He's had an accomplished stage career, winning three Tony awards on Broadway.

This is a fantastic movie and it is just so fun to watch these great actors take each other on. Another one for the Best Picture list, and probably another Director Oscar nod for Ron Howard. Four stars, and one of the best films of the year.