Rebecca Hall

Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Ensemble Save ‘Frost/Nixon’ From Soulless Direction

BrianTT — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:23:04 -0700

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Peter Morgan’s play “Frost/Nixon” was a searing portrait of two men trying their best to change their image and their future. It was a head-to-head battle between a celebrity interviewer whose reputation was on a steady decline and the man credited with bringing shame to the White House.

Either Richard Nixon would “win” and come out looking like he had successfully defended his controversial actions in his last few years in office or David Frost would give the impeached President the trial that a lot of people feel he deserved.

Clearly, there’s enough drama inherent in the source material of “Frost/Nixon” to make a riveting drama, and the cast that director Ron Howard and Morgan, adapting his own play, have assembled are more than talented enough to pull it off. But something gets lost on the way from the theater to the multiplex. There’s a passion in the war of words between these two driven men that feels diluted by not only the big screen but also Howard’s weaknesses as a director.

David Frost (Michael Sheen) greets Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and Colonel Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) in “Frost/Nixon”, from director Ron Howard.
Photo credit: Ralph Nelson. Copyright: © 2008 Universal Studios.

Michael Sheen plays David Frost, a man in the midst of a career crisis. He’s a reasonably successful celebrity interviewer, but he’s not taken as seriously as he’d like to be. When he sees Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) resigning on national television and realizes what a ratings draw he is worldwide, he reaches out to try and land an interview. After some negotiations, including a few rules on what can be asked and when, he lands the interview of the decade.

Frost/Nixon from Universal Pictures opens on December 12, 2008.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

To prepare for the interview, Frost’s team, including producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen) and researchers James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt), go to work on preparing every question and anticipating every answer while Frost himself hits the town with his gorgeous new lady love (Rebecca Hall). Could Frost’s reputation as a soft-sell interviewer be true? Could Nixon end up using the platform as a way to exonerate himself? “Frost/Nixon” builds to the interviews themselves, easily the most riveting material in the film and an opportunity for two great actors to shine.

Langella has already been laden with praise for his work in “Frost/Nixon” and it’s deserving. People who like the film clearly become enraptured with the bone-deep performance by the role of this talented actor’s career. But Langella is not alone. Sheen is very good and great character actors like Rockwell, Platt, Kevin Bacon, and Toby Jones excel in small roles.

What keeps “Frost/Nixon” from becoming more than a performance piece is the lack off three-dimensionality and depth that often marks the work of Ron Howard. He’s a classic, three-star director, a man who continues to make movies that are “good enough” but never great. The world of “Frost/Nixon” doesn’t feel lived in and that keeps the film from having the intensity or resonance that it might have from a director with that undefinable ability to make his characters pop off the screen.

Colonel Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) counsels Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) in “Frost/Nixon”, from director Ron Howard.
Photo credit: Ralph Nelson. Copyright: © 2008 Universal Studios.

In the end, the inherent drama of the true story of “Frost/Nixon” and the performers assembled to shoot it make the film worth seeing, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. It’s a dramatically inert film because Howard is too often going through the motions instead of breathing life into the piece. It simply never feels like the people in “Frost/Nixon” exist outside the frame or before or after the credits, turning what could have been a realistic portrait of two complex men into just an acting exercise.

‘Frost/Nixon’ stars Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Rebecca Hall, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, and Toby Jones. ‘Frost/Nixon’, which was written by Peter Morgan and directed by Ron Howard, opened on December 12, 2008.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Hit-or-Miss Mastermind Woody Allen Recaptures Genius With Eccentric ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – While legendary writer and director Woody Allen can’t always be equated with sheer genius these days and is more accurately described as a hit-or-miss proposition, the sorely undermarketed and film-festival touring “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” serves as unquestionable retribution for his recently questionable work.

The film, which stars Hollywood sensations Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz, all throughout makes you feel like Allen’s script has something brilliant up its artistic sleeve. While at times you’ll easily predict when sex is on deck, Allen uses “No Country for Old Men” star Javier Bardem literally as his blunt instrument.

Penélope Cruz stars as María Elena in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” from director Woody Allen.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

In the real world, of course, even a man of his charisma couldn’t walk up to a woman with Scarlett Johansson’s magnetism and lure her into a weekend of bliss and eroticism with these simple words: “We’re getting on my plane in an hour for a weekend of drinking fine wine and making love.”

While Bardem can this time because Allen’s script makes Johansson’s risqué character do it, his true treat is scoring a triple play by convincing Johansson’s rule-driven friend – played by the relatively unknown Rebecca Hall – to seek the same interesting slice of life.

Hall’s character is completely out of character in going along with this ride and is in the process of marrying a man who feels to her much like a sedative.

Javier Bardem (left center) and Scarlett Johansson (right center) star in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

Amid all the wining and dining, Bardem displays his range as an actor. He puts out of our mind his powerfully villainous character in “No Country for Old Men” and completely transforms himself for Allen’s creation into an artistic, charismatic and confident Spanish lover.

The protagonists, of course, wouldn’t be complete without the antagonistic presence of Penélope Cruz. Despite training rigorously with a teacher and a paintbrush for her painting scenes, though, Cruz still admits to having “faked” these scenes.

In fact, Cruz says in real life she’s a “terrible artist” and is nothing like her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” character. While she gets by with the brush in the film, it’s not her painting that ultimately slathers herself memorably onto you.

Left to right on set: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

It’s her irate, suicidal and jealous performance that stands out with its emotional and physical carnage. Cruz landed the role of María Elena from director Woody Allen in 40 seconds flat.

Scarlett Johansson’s appearance in the latest Allen work of art is especially his personal joy. Despite appearing in three Allen films in the past three years (“Match Point” in 2005, “Scoop” in 2006 and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in 2008), Johansson decisively denies being his latest “muse”.

When the subject has come up repeatedly in press junkets for the film, she always says they take pleasure in “having fun” together. The 72-year-old Allen, on the other hand, liberally confesses that the 23-year-old “Lost in Translation” star has often been the muse for many of his latest films.

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View our full, high-resolution “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” image gallery.

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Johansson follows in the shadows of actresses and former Allen lovers Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. Instead of it being Johansson in 2005’s “Match Point,” Allen initially selected British star Kate Winslet.

While Winslet may have gone on to muse Allen thereafter, she pulled out from the 2005 film to spend more time with her children.

Despite its interesting backstory and compelling film story, the whole work of art that is “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” goes somewhat to poop in its anti-climatic ending. You can feel Allen struggling with how to end this fascinating journey. His decision to waiver somewhere in the grey matter of life is a tragically unfulfilling choice.

Had the ending been rewritten, “Vicky Christina Barcelona” would be one of Allen’s finest works without question. Even without the rewrite, though, it stands as one Allen magnum opus nonetheless.

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which is written and directed by Woody Allen and stars Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Messina, opens on Aug. 15, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com