Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

53 Australia
33 Bedtime Stories
41 Beverly Hills Chihuahua
57 Body of Lies
68 Bolt
24 Bride Wars
63 Burn After Reading
65 Cadillac Records
58 City of Ember
70 Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The
82 Dark Knight, The
40 Day the Earth Stood Still, The
27 Delgo
70 Doubt
43 Eagle Eye
36 Fly Me to the Moon
41 Four Christmases
72 Gran Torino
28 Haunting of Molly Hartley. The
57 High School Musical 3: Senior Year
51 Hotel for Dogs
35 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
47 Inkheart
57 Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
61 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
53 Marley & Me
84 Milk
35 Mirrors
51 My Bloody Valentine 3-D
xx New in Town
39 Nights in Rodanthe
50 Nothing Like the Holidays
60 Notorious
40 Outlander
39 Paul Blart: Mall Cop
45 Pride and Glory
30 Punisher: War Zone
58 Quantum of Solace
69 Revolutionary Road
36 Righteous Kill
60 Role Models
19 Saw V
57 Secret Life of Bees, The
36 Seven Pounds
49 Sex Drive
49 Soul Men
30 Spirit, The
xx Taken
53 Tale of Despereaux, The
51 Transporter 3
56 Twilight
30 Unborn, The
49 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
xx Uninvited, The
56 Valkyrie
70 Vicky Cristina Barcelona
56 W.
93 WALL-E
46 Yes Man
56 Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

58 Adam Resurrected
64 Appaloosa
69 Ashes of Time Redux
68 August Evening
54 Battle in Seattle
75 Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
70 Black Balloon, The
xx Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
55 Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
51 Breakfast with Scot
xx Cargo 200
44 Chandni Chowk to China
63 Changeling
64 Che
56 Cherry Blossoms
84 Christmas Tale, A
94 Class, The
38 Dark Streets
58 Defiance
43 Donkey Punch
xx Dostana
62 Duchess, The
46 Dukes, The
63 Eden
xx Extreme Movie
69 Fear(s) of the Dark
26 Filth and Wisdom
28 Fireproof
80 Frost/Nixon
43 Gardens of the Night
73 Girl Cut in Two, A
39 Good
54 Good Dick
30 Guitar, The
84 Happy-Go-Lucky
31 Hounddog
21 House of the Sleeping Beauties
50 How About You
70 Hunger
72 I Served the King of England
70 I.O.U.S. A
40 Igor
79 I've Loved You So Long
64 JCVD
65 Just Another Love Story
29 Lake City
57 Last Chance Harvey
82 Let the Right One In
31 Let Them Chirp Awhile
xx Local Color
17 Lodger, The
xx Luck by Chance
89 Man on Wire
xx Medicine for Melancholy
70 Moscow, Belgium
36 My Name Is Bruce
28 Nobel Son
43 Not Easily Broken
64 Nothing But the Truth
79 Of Time and the City
40 Other End of the Line, The
34 Otto; or Up with Dead People
75 Pool, The
78 Pray the Devil Back to Hell
xx Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
82 Rachel Getting Married
58 Reader, The
56 Religulous
32 Repo! The Genetic Opera
53 RocknRolla
65 Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
82 Secret of the Grain, The
xx Shadows
75 Silent Light
86 Slumdog Millionaire
57 Special
82 Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
67 Synecdoche, New York
82 Tell No One
68 Theater of War
68 Timecrimes
83 Trouble the Water
43 Tru Loved
83 U2 3D
90 Waltz with Bashir
59 We Are Wizards
81 Wendy and Lucy
71 What Doesn't Kill You
55 What Just Happened?
61 Where God Left His Shoes
40 While She Was Out
81 Wrestler, The
48 Yonkers Joe

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Frost/Nixon


8.2

based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 37 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for some language

Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harbored doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who'd built a career out of stonewalling? Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity--ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth. (Universal Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Peter Morgan
DIRECTED BY:	Ron Howard
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: December 5, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	122 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA \| UK \| France

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's hard to imagine how a film built around one-on-one interviews could be entertaining, but Frost/Nixon could not be more enthralling.

100

TV Guide Perry Seibert

The craftsmanship, acting, and history lesson all make it among the most satisfying films of Ron Howard's career.

100

Premiere Staff (Not credited)

A totally mesmerizing battle of the wills between the occasionally charming yet wily Nixon and the increasingly desperate Frost.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Frank Langella and Michael Sheen do not attempt to mimic their characters, but to embody them.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Morgan finds the right elements of action and character through which to make history leap off the page.

100

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Langella has always been a cerebral actor, one who never gives away all he's thinking. What comes through in this portrayal is how smart Nixon was, whether he's cunningly probing Frost's weaknesses or pitching himself to TV viewers as an avuncular, misunderstood Cold Warrior.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

In a masterful performance, Langella highlights Nixon's oily charm and guile.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Surges with an energy and visual verve that improve the play and enhance the themes of dramatist Peter Morgan's script.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The result is involving, engrossing cinema -- more thrilling, in fact, than Howard's "The Da Vinci Code" -- filmmaking of a type rarely seen anymore and sorely missed.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

What Ron Howard gets, to a degree that's astonishing in a two-hour film, is the density and complexity, as well as the generous entertainment quotient, of Peter Morgan's screenplay.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Director Ron Howard has turned Peter Morgan's stage success into a grabber of a movie laced with tension, stinging wit and potent human drama.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Howard and Morgan have transformed this story into something more than an embellished re-telling of recent history. They have shaped a tragedy that is almost Shakespearean in force.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Sheen, who is also reprising his stage role and appeared as Tony Blair in the Morgan-written "The Queen," is highly effective as Frost - though the stakes for Frost are nowhere near as interesting as those for Nixon.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Ron Howard has made his best movie with Frost/Nixon, an electric political drama with a skin-prickling immediacy.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The result is a totally absorbing and entertaining film, one of the best historical dramas from Hollywood in many years.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Throughout, it's clouded -- for me at least -- by a nagging sense that it's straining too hard to build the media clash into more of an historic event than it was.

Washington Post Philip Kennicott

Neither the title nor the subject matter prepares you for the pure fun of Frost/Nixon.

NPR Bob Mondello

A case is being made here that it wasn't really Frost who did Nixon in: It was Nixon's old nemesis, the TV camera.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Frost/Nixon's main attraction is neither its topicality nor its historical value, but Langella's re-creation of his Tony-winning performance.

Newsweek David Ansen

Frost/Nixon works even better on screen. Director Ron Howard and Morgan, adapting his own play, have both opened up the tale and, with the power of close-ups, made this duel of wits even more intimate and suspenseful.

The New Yorker David Denby

Offers considerable insight into the Nixon mystery, without solving it; the movie is fully absorbing and even, when Nixon falls into a drunken, resentful rage, exciting, but I can't escape the feeling that it carries about it an aura of momentousness that isn't warranted by the events.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Howard has made a picture for grown-ups, a well-constructed entertainment that neither talks down to its audience nor congratulates it just for showing up.

Empire Ian Nathan

Stirring stuff that works thrillingly as drama, and should make Sheen a star, even if it compromises on historical insight.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Ultimately, Frost/Nixon may be stuck in time – but, oh, what a time it was.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Frost/Nixon is wholly absorbing.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Frost/Nixon is not the epic gladiatorial face-off, the ricocheting verbal shoot-out that writer Morgan and filmmaker Howard imagined.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Shakespeare would have delighted in the chapter, especially in the antagonist, but not at the expense of the longer and darker and still-unfinished book.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Never entirely escapes its theatrical origins, and, by framing the story so pugilistically, the filmmakers don't bring out the full richness in this material.

Time Richard Corliss

For closeup conflict and emotional kick, the Frost/Nixon movie tops the play. But neither can match the tension and weird poignancy of the original interviews -- reality TV of the highest, queasiest order.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Ron Howard directed, with outstanding support from Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan, Nixon's fierce chief of staff.

Slate Dana Stevens

Morgan's compact, satisfying drama presents presidential interviewing as a gladiatorial event.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Stories of lost crowns lend themselves to drama, but not necessarily audience-pleasing entertainments, which may explain why Frost/Nixon registers as such a soothing, agreeably amusing experience, more palliative than purgative.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Frank Langella's meticulous performance will generate the sort of attention that will attract serious filmgoers.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Less a political movie than a boxing film without the gloves.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Despite a moving, canny incarnation of the man by Frank Langella, despite a slickly entertaining coffee-table production as only Ron Howard knows how, the movie feels cooked up.

Film Threat Scott Mendelson

Fails to add anything of substance to the history that it portrays.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Despite the great care and research that went into the movie, Frost/Nixon pales in comparison to Oliver Stone's "Nixon" when it comes to humanizing the infamous leader.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Unsatisfying even if, like me, you're a lifelong aficionado of Nixon-bashing.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

fantasy gave it a10:
We just saw this movie and loved it. Frank Langella captivates the screen and will have you believe he truly is Richard M. Nixon. His effort should earn him an OSCAR buzz. The audience sat in stunned silence and hung on his every word. Everyone is else is just filler. After seeing the movie you have a feeling he truly wanted to lose the debate. The saddest part was there never was any need for Watergate as he destroyed McGovern winning by a landslide. He was truly a great statesman even though he had no personality. Also it is never revealed who was responsible for suggesting Watergate even though we can assume it was done with Tricky Dick's blessing? All in all a very good film worthy of you seeing.

Chris C. gave it a9:
Two sensational performances, and Ron Howard's best film yet. There are some cheesy touches, but overall the film is a knockout.

Abhinav R. gave it an8:
Quite an engaging movie. Very comical at times. I imagine the actual interviews were as dramatic as the film portrayed them. Personally, i don't know much about these interviews, but this movie still interested me very much.

Armond A. gave it an8:
It's easy to expect too much of this film, even if you know before seeing it that Nixon never acknowledged the depth and breadth of his malfeasance and misfeasance. I've followed this saga for the past 35 years and I certainly knew that Frost's coup was relatively modest. Yet I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat as Frost finally got down to business and Nixon's grand-old-statesman persona began to crumble. That's really good filmmaking. Ron Howard sure knows how to build a story and how to heighten drama through the use of very solid, classic camera-work. But the director's skill wouldn't have given us such a fine film without a worthy performance by the leading actor; Frank Langella's Nixon is just remarkable. In fact, Langella puts something into the film that almost makes up for the absence of a real "confession" . He gives us a sense of Nixon the human being. That doesn't mean that one comes away feeling sorry for the man. But if insight into those whom we dislike is of value, and I think it is, Langella, Howard, and all the supporting cast and crew give us a genuine gift in their depiction of a man who was immensely talented and heroically persistent but also narcissistically mortified, lonely, and petty.

Billy S. gave it a9:
An extraordinary movie. Frank Langella is a revelation and a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination and I would say the favorite to win Beat Actor. Every bit as intriguing as All The Presidents Men, Ron Howard has crafted the best film of his career. Now all we need is someone to make Frost/Bush and I can go to cinema heaven!!

Matt B. gave it a3:
The guy playing Nixon doesn't even look, or talk like Nixon. Being the history fanatic that I am, I'll never be able to get over that. It just ruins the whole movie for me.

Richard W. gave it a10:
Movie is even better than what was great stagecraft. Langella becomes Nixon through posture, intensity and visage with no apparent make-up help; Sheen is a marvel. Howard's winning direction captures the pathos, bathos and emotion.