ichard Nixon’s mea culpa…
a 1960s Catholic school in
turmoil…a musical steeped
in ’70s kitsch…a stunt that
shocked the world in 1974.
At first glance it seems as if
this year’s Best Movies for Grownups® are looking mostly
backward. But look again—each movie, performance, and
script selected by our editors has a uniquely current perspective, imbued with the kind of insight only a grownup
could love. Even better: They all go great with popcorn!
Best Movie for Grownups®
Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard
FROM TOP: RALPH NELSON/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS; ANDREW SCHWARTZ/MIRAMAX FILM CORP.; TYLER PERRY STUDIOS
What the heck is it about Richard
Nixon? Every time we think we’ve got a
bead on the guy, we discover a surprising quirk, an unexpected quality—good
or bad—that we never suspected. So
it is with Frost/Nixon, director Ron
Howard’s astonishing take on RN’s
historic 1977 TV interviews with British chat-show host David Frost. Sure,
it’s only a movie, and yes, it’s based not
on a history book but on a Broadway
play, but somehow, between Howard’s
restrained guidance and his stars’ uncanny channeling of the individuals
they play, we feel we are witnesses to
something more than someone’s version of history.
Certainly lots of credit goes to the
stars: Frank Langella, jowly and ingen-
ious as Nixon (see Best Actor 50 and
Over award, next page), and Michael
Sheen as deer-in-the-headlights Frost,
who realizes, almost too late, just
what he’s up against. Playwright Peter
Morgan has reworked his stage play
intelligently, expanding his proscenium-
bound universe to evoke the crazed
world outside the insular realms of TV
and politics. And behind the camera,
director Howard ratchets up the drama
to peak intensity, time and again allow-
ing his antihero to linger on the screen,
giving Nixon the close-ups he felt he
deserved—but which contributed to
his undoing, as Frost’s unforgiving TV
cameras seemed to pry into his soul.
BEST MOVIE /BEST ACTOR
Frost/Nixon and Frank Langella
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, in Doubt
Best Actress 50 and Over
Meryl Streep, in Doubt
We simply couldn’t resist Streep’s magnificently understated performance
BEST BUDDY PICTURE
Tyler Perry’s The Family
That Preys, with Kathy Bates,
left, and Alfre Woodard
