A movie about the British talk-show host David Frost’s series of interviews with Richard Nixon, which were shown on American television in May 1977, was released Friday. "Frost/Nixon" was directed by the Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and uses a script previously written by Peter Morgan, who is also behind “The Queen” and “The Last King of Scotland.”

Its subject is the series of televised interviews that Richard Nixon granted David Frost in 1977 and that ended with a tacit admission of guilt regarding his role in the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon is skillfully played by Frank Langella while the talk show host David Frost is played by Michael Sheen.

As far as Sheen’s portrayal of Frost as an overly confident, international star in the making, an entertainer who desires fame more than truth, there’s a bit of an exaggeration behind this image. The real Frost had much more substance and was not the pretty-boy celebrity portrayed in the film.

Nixon however assumes that he’ll be able to intellectually dominate Frost, who is unaccustomed to interviewing major politicians. He posits that it might help him achieve a triumphant return east, where he can attain the status of a venerated elder statesman.

Morgan on the other hand is rock solid when it comes to structure. It's a compelling account, shrewdly bolstered with lively actors in both corners of the ring: Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen, Rebecca Hall and Oliver Platt in Frost's camp; Toby Jones and Kevin Bacon attending to the president. Jones steals his every scene as the bald and legendary agent Swifty Lazar, a totally different appearance than Karl Rove in "W."