An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Charlotte O'Sullivan's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Ron Howard.
Cast: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt
Description: On August 8, 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first President of the United States to resign from the Oval Office. Rather than answer tough questions about his so-called crimes, Nixon was sensationally pardoned by Gerald Ford, his successor at The White House, effectively robbing the American public of the trial of this shamed statesman. Frost/Nixon sensationally documents the efforts of one man - British talk show host David Frost - to interview Nixon on camera and to effectively tease a confession from the wily orator.
Country: US. 2008. 121mins
Big beast: Nixon (Frank Langella) harangues his aide Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon)
Popularity and ratings play a huge part in Frost/Nixon, yet the film itself may not emerge as a box-office champ. Those familiar with Peter Morgan’s play — which recreates the famous interviews between David Frost and the disgraced ex-US president Richard Nixon in 1977 — could find the faithful adaptation by Ron “Safe Pair of Hands” Howard underwhelming. And those who adored Morgan’s script for The Queen could be frustrated by Frank Langella’s complex but utterly unlovable Nixon.
Devoid of heroes, Frost/Nixon is a film about filming. And — perhaps because I ducked the play and loathed The Queen — I enjoyed every minute of it.
As in The Queen, what we’re offered is a conservative icon seen through the eyes of narky Left-wingers and an eager-to-please but ambitious middle-man. It was Frost’s idea to pay Nixon for a series of interviews post- Watergate and, when US networks passed on the chance to fund the venture, he begged and borrowed from friends to make it happen. Yet he knew very little about his subject, and needed all the help he could get from his two researchers, Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and James Reston Jr (Sam Rockwell).
They are horrified by Frost’s bounciness and, when the interviews start, his inability to ask tough questions. Zelnick and Reston suspect he is all too willing to be seduced by a ruthless manipulator.
The “revelation” in The Queen was that Elizabeth II is a misunderstood beacon of integrity, one who weeps in private about the fate of her rival, the glamorous, doomed Diana. As narrative inventions go, the one here is far more plausible. The Nixon we see does not blub over his glamorous, doomed rival JFK. Of course not.
Nixon is full of sorrow — sorrow for himself. The big scene in which he exposes his hidden depths is fuelled as much by narcissism as empathy.
Film Trailers by Filmtrailer.com
Langella conveys all this without seeming to try. He suggests that Dicky is tricky merely by making us conscious that this man is always conscious of how he appears. It’s apt that the one occasion on which he loses control is on the phone. Nixon keeps saying that he can’t perform for the cameras.Thanks to Langella’s sublime performance, we see for ourselves that this is not true.
Langella has already won lots of awards and should win more. It’s Evening Standard shortlisted Sheen, though, who pulls off the most magical of tricks: ensuring we become fascinated by a hollow man. His Frost is a himbo, an innocent diva as breathless and bewildered as Marilyn Monroe. At the same time, his toughness is not in doubt and his inscrutable smile, especially at the end, contains a shade of spite.
Some have suggested that the Sheen we see here is far too like the Sheen in The Queen. But surely the similarity is intentional. We are virtually being invited to note the obvious — that Frost could have been a politician, and Blair a TV host. We get the leaders — and light entertainers — we deserve.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Tonight:
8°c
