Frost/Nixon

In an instance of clarity it's easy to see the emperor with no clothes that Frost/Nixon is. A totally enjoyable film with top notch production values in every department Frost/Nixon goes down smooth yet hardly bears repeat viewing or even deep introspection. A part of this lies with director Ron Howard's penchant for self importance where there's none.
Don't get me wrong, I like Opie but as accomplished a filmmaker as he's become I never leave his films with the kind of exhilaration of, say, a Robert Zemeckis film. Howard's not out of his league with this tale of Brit talk-show host David Frost interviewing Richard Nixon after the disgraced president has been under the radar for three years after his resignation, it's just that Howard makes his most interesting films when he's dealing with rouge characters like in The Missing or genre comedies like Nightshift.
The Nixon camp considered Frost a lightweight and thus saw his interview as a return to the limelight. The conflict of Frost/Nixon revolves around who will be the victor of the interview sessions. A clever script by Peter Morgan based on his play only revisits his earlier themes: no matter who wins both sides end up respecting their adversary. Just like in The Queen, Morgan's previous work.
Part of the conundrum lies in the way Howard treats the subject. Other Nixon movies have taken different stances to the man. The interpretations of Nixon are as different as Secret Honor's Philip Baker Hall, Dick's Dan Hedaya and Oliver Stone Nixon biopic with Anthony Hopkins. Frank Langella here reprising his stage role goes for a physical and vocal impersonation that paints Nixon as complicated and yet conflicted. Drunk on a bender he calls Frost but has forgotten the incident the next day.
Other actors are sufficient to the task although they seem to be playing more off their persona than creating memorable characters. Oliver Platt was better as a political operative in Bulworth, Sam Rockwell's the shaggy haired radical dude, while Rebecca Hall plays a babe who does nothing for the story but provides eye candy as Frost's girlfriend. Diane Sawyer, today arguably more well known than Frost or Nixon, is a character yet we never hear what she thinks. Kevin Bacon's turn as Nixon's chief of staff is the film's most theatrical invention.
Frost/Nixon wants to be profound but only serves to remind us that we're all pawns in politicians games. Perhaps not oddly Nixon's crime is so petty you feel sorry for the whole state of the union. Current heads of state get away with so much shit as to make Nixon's transgressions look like the petty crimes they were.