Perhaps the biggest surprise in Ron Howard’s latest directorial effort, Frost/Nixon, is how compelling it is.  I was in elementary school when Richard Nixon was forced to resign after Watergate.  All I recall from the period was Rich Little impressions of Nixon, and Dan Ackroyd’s interpretation on Saturday Night Live. Three years after stepping down from the White House in disgrace, Nixon granted an interview with a British talk show host by the name of David Frost.  This was the first time the former President had to respond to questions about his presidency and the events leading to his fall.  As a child, I had as much interest in watching the event as I had in studying history.  Now, thirty years later, Ron Howard decides to make a movie about it starring Frank Langella, and all I’m thinking is…”Why?”  Nixon wasn’t exactly a matinee idol like predecessor John F. Kennedy.  There wasn’t adultery or even an assassination attempt.  What could be so compelling to hold an audience’s attention to warrant a film?

Five minutes into the film, Howard answers that question and keeps you riveted to your seat.  The movie starts with Nixon’s resignation, when a relatively unknown softball talk show host set out in securing Nixon’s first interview.  Truly a Herculean task at the time, Frost put up $200,000 of his own money in what would be a make-or-break career move.

With a month before the interview, both sides prepare for the interview like it was a championship fight. The first few rounds went to Nixon, who soft peddles his way through dicey subjects until Frost finally gets his footing and forces the former President to admit personal wrongdoing in Watergate and, more importantly, letting the country down.

Langella delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Nixon, forcing the audience to feel for the man, regardless of your political views.  Michael Sheen is wonderful as David Frost, taking his character on a journey to journalistic integrity.  But the real hero here is Ron Howard, in arguably his best directing effort of his career.  Passed over a few years ago, both at the box office and with the Academy with a decent effort in Cinderella Man, Howard manages to craft a far more superior film both from a story-telling point of view and theme.  He also manages to pull off the impossible bi-partisan effort by delivering a performance that will please both Republicans and Democrats.