As to the rest, Michael Sheen is no winner as David Frost either. He starts out strongly with the sort of nasal English drawl that punctuated Frost's delivery, and then lets it evaporate, never to return. Perhaps it gets swallowed up by the great Langella's extravagance.
The supporting cast, however, was excellent. Not a dud in the bunch. And they try to give what I think of as a tepid script some life and shape. Kudos to them.
Three people that I spoke to about this show loved it. LOVED it. To them, this is how Nixon was. It brings back the memory of a rocky time that a lot of us witnessed, and what Langella does is close enough to the real thing. They ended up enjoying the show, whereas I felt like I was going through the eyeball torture in A Clockwork Orange. They were part of the crowd standing while I was holding my head in my hands wondering why it hadn't exploded.
Who knows why anyone likes anything? It's why I love theatre.
So, go if you must, and enjoy it if you can figure out how. Just to cover your bases, however, you might want to ask for an aisle seat, because there ain't no intermission for this puppy. Surprise, surprise.
FROST/NIXON
By Peter Morgan; directed by Michael Grandage
WITH: Frank Langella (Richard Nixon), Michael Sheen (David Frost), Remy Auberjonois (John Birt), Shira Gregory (Evonne Goolagong), Corey Johnson (Jack Brennan), Stephen Kunken (James Reston Jr.), Stephen Rowe (Swifty Lazar/Mike Wallace), Triney Sandoval (Manolo Sanchez), Armand Schultz (Bob Zelnick) and Sonya Walger (Caroline Cushing).
Sets and costumes by Christopher Oram; lighting by Neil Austin; music and sound by Adam Cork; video design by Jon Driscoll; hair and wig design by Richard Mawbey
Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200. Through Aug. 18. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.
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