In both his original play and this sufficiently engaging film adaptation, writer Peter Morgan goes to great lengths to frame the 1977 televised tete-a-tete between ambitious British interviewer David Frost and freshly deposed Sith Lord Richard Nixon as a boxing match. In his words, Frost/Nixon is like “an intellectual Rocky.”
Alas, director Ron Howard opts to let Michael Sheen and Frank Langella reprise their roles from the Broadway production, disappointing those of us who saw this as a perfect comeback vehicle for Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers. What’s more, Langella’s performance as the ex-president is so commanding and fearsome that Sheen’s preening Frost rarely belongs in the same weight class. Morgan and Howard’s efforts to incorporate a Watergate 101 class for the benefit of historically impaired viewers also deprive the drama of some of its original force and elegance.
Even so, Frost/Nixon is plenty compelling once the combatants get in the ring, having been well-prepared for battle by their corner men (Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon all ace their supporting roles). Though Morgan’s sexed-up brand of fact-based drama can sometimes seem facile, few other contemporary writers have such a nuanced understanding of power or protocol, or such prowess at choreographing conversational fisticuffs.