Frost/Nixon

Ron Howard acquits himself well (if not quite impressively) in the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning stage play about the battle of wills in the historic interviews with disgraced President Richard Nixon conducted by British TV personality David Frost. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen reprise their stage roles, and Langella dominates as Nixon. He doesn't really look or sound like the president, but he creates a formidable figure of a statesman, brilliant, astute and cunning. Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan (adapting his own play) never quite shake off the theatrical gimmicks or the classic underdog dramatic structure, but it's a fascinating study of an essential piece of social history.

The DVD and Blu-ray releases are packed with supplements, including commentary by director Howard, three featurettes with the cast, crew and David Frost himself discussing the history and the film, and deleted scenes. Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition is a featurette on the film's research, more deleted scenes, the video commentary track "The Nixon Chronicles" (watch the film with pop-up facts, historical notes and clips from the original interviews) and a picture-in-picture track that accesses relevant clips from the featurettes during the film.