“Frost/Nixon” is the new film by Ron Howard, based on the play by Peter Morgan which he adapted himself for the film, focusing on a series of controversial interviews conducted between David Frost and Richard Nixon, played by Michael Sheen and Richard Nixon respectively, who also played the same roles in the Tony Award winning play. As appetizing as the thought of this film is, I can’t say my interest stems any further than curiosity and some of the reviews below confirm some of my suspicions thus far.

Peter Bradshaw thinks “Frost/Nixon,” which is lined up for the London Film Fest kind of sucks, giving it 2 stars, saying, “Eventually, the most interesting thing about the movie is a mirage: the optical illusion of a prickly Tony Sheen-Blair demanding but failing to get answers from a disgraced US president about the invasion of Cambodia, a corrupt foreign policy, the wholesale slaughter of civilians. A lot of hot air – but not much real heat.”

Todd McCarthy, with a review as ambiguously “shrugglike” as his “W” review, says “Frost/Nixon” is an effective, straightforward bigscreen version of Peter Morgan’s shrewd stage drama about the historic 1977 TV interview in which Richard Nixon brought himself down once again. Like the other election year release about a modern Republican president, “W.,” this one isn’t out to “get” its much vilified subject as much as it tries to cast him as something of a tragic victim of his own limitations and foibles–tragic for the perpetrator and his country alike. Frank Langella’s meticulous performance will generate the sort of attention that will attract serious filmgoers, assuring good biz in upscale markets, but luring the under-40 public will pose a significant marketing challenge.”

What McCarthy says about Langella is particularly comforting, after saying how forced Langella’s performance initially seems to be, he goes on to say just how wonderfully nuanced Langella is, “But over the course of the piece, the many facets of the performance merge into an impeccably observed characterization of a man whose accomplishments, intellect and aggressive use of power never entirely overcame an abiding inferiority complex and propensity for self-sabotage.

Guy Lodge also gives it 2 stars, poking fun at the films unintentional irony, “For all the intelligence and polish on display here, “Frost/Nixon” ultimately proves no more insightful a portrait of Richard Nixon (or David Frost, for that matter) than the original interviews themselves. Near the end of the film, in a speech lifted directly from the original play, Sam Rockwell’s Jim Reston tells us, “The greatest sin of television is that it oversimplifies, diminishes…great complex ideas, whole careers, become reduced to a simple snapshot.” Well, in some respects, film and television are not all that different. It’s an irony that Howard and Morgan obviously did not intend and certainly should have taken to heart before embarking on this coldly unilluminating film.”

Kirk Honeycutt, giving his lukewarm opinion, “Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, who originated the roles onstage, effectively play Frost and Nixon without trying terribly hard to imitate either. Sheen doesn’t bother to exaggerate Frost’s on-camera tics and vocal inflections. Rather he plays breezy desperation, a performer who is smooth on the surface yet roiling inside, desperate to climb back into showbiz heaven through this interview. Langella permits prosthetic makeup to get the Nixon jowls and gives his voice a Nixonian tenor, but otherwise his is a study in power lost and utter loneliness.”

Ambrose Heron thinks the film is just as great as the stage production, “As someone who was a huge admirer of the London stage production back in 2006, I had concerns that many of qualities that made it work so brilliantly on stage could be ironed out for the big screen…However, it is to the film’s great credit that director Ron Howard and Morgan (who wrote the screenplay) have not only preserved the insight and charm of the play but made it work in a different medium.”

Tim Teeman, whose written a lengthy but interesting piece in The Times, likes it too, forcing me to change the headline of this very post, “The director Ron Howard must know he made the right decision. The movie is as electrifying as the stage version; more so as the freedom of the camera, the ability to see close-up the emotions and frailties of both Nixon and David Frost (played by Michael Sheen), helps to add to the unbearable tension of their televised encounters in 1977 that led to Nixon finally admitting wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal. Their parrying, gladiatorial contest is transfixing.”

And then James Christopher gives it 4 stars out of 5, obviously digging it more than most people, “The build-up to the final confrontation is an absolutely electric piece of cinema, not least because there are vertiginous moments where history is being reminted before your eyes.” On Langella, “Frank Langella’s marvellous old creep into one of the most compelling cinema waltzes I’ve yet seen. “

And some haven’t seen the movie yet. How sad for them, if they didn’t act so self-important and entitled, essentially acting as a full embodiment of everything I loathe about the American critic. I get why Poland is upset, but he has no idea how to channel his jealousy without looking like a complete jackass. Not cool.