Trust Ron Howard, the most sentimental, pompous of American film directors, to make a film about talk-show host David Frost’s 1977 interview with disgraced former American president, Richard “Tricky Dicky” Nixon.

I mean, a feature film about an interview? What next, a film about Elvis Presley’s last dump?

I’m sure many Americans were looking for some form of closure on the Nixon years when this interview occurred, and Frost did get some form of admission from Nixon that what he had done around the Watergate scandal was wrong.

Whether this is dramatic enough to get a whole film out of is highly debatable. The thing is, the interview exists, and people can watch that. The film, of course, details Frost’s huge punt in securing the interview and the background story to the whole thing. It’s interesting enough, and certainly Howard has a great cast to work with. Frank Langella (Nixon) is great, as is Kevin Bacon as Nixon’s main protection mechanism.

The trouble, as with any feature film using actors to portray real-life characters whose real-life images are implanted in the public’s consciousness, is that Langella clearly has little resemblance to Nixon, nor Michael Sheen to David Frost. And while Langella’s Nixon is a commanding and dramatic character, it’s a kind of lie: the real-life Nixon was not given to the kind of dramatic, bravura performance Langella gives (check out the real interview versus the film version) and certainly had none of his charisma.

While Nixon/Frost is well-done and quite watchable, I don’t really see the point.

Sound: 3 - It’s a drama-based film, so just average use of surround sound.

Picture: 3.5 – Beautifully shot but otherwise unremarkable, as much of the movie is simply men in rooms.

Extras: 4 – Quite generous, with director commentary, a decent ‘making of’, deleted scenes, a half-hour piece on “the interview” with segments of the real thing, and an odd item on the Nixon Museum.

Movie: 3 – Above average production with good performances but one question remains: why?

GARY STEEL