Charms silver

oundup: Pop Culture - the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum ExhibitsMichael Sheen as David Frost
Source: Observer (UK) (10-5-08)
Tony Blair, David Frost, HG Wells, Kenneth Williams, Brian Clough, Mozart, Caligula - the roll call of parts that Michael Sheen has played resembles a version of the parlour game known as Fantasy Dinner Parties. With that mob seated around the same table, passing the condiments and swapping chit-chat, there would be no need to resort to Pictionary or Taboo to give the evening a lift. Until now, Sheen has been defined by his brace of performances as Blair. The Deal recreated the charm offensive of the PM-in-waiting, and the leadership pact made by Blair and Gordon Brown, while The Queen unpicked the part played by Blair in the redemption of the Windsors after the fall-out from Princess Diana's death. That considerable achievement will shortly be overshadowed by his latest role, as David Frost in Frost/Nixon, which kicks off the London Film Festival on 15 October and opens nationwide in January. Like Peter Morgan's 2006 play, Ron Howard's film takes as its focus the volatile, shifting dynamic between Frost and his most-prized quarry - disgraced former President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), from whom he coaxed a candid confession of wrongdoing over many hours of interviews in 1977. Sheen played the role in the West End and on Broadway and was first choice for the film, regardless of any lack of star power. His performance presents a version of Frost that bears little resemblance to the soft-pedaling schmoozer of Sunday morning talk shows and Through the Keyhole; his Frost displays a fearlessness and taste for risk blurring here and there into egotism. The quality of his take on Frost matches his magisterial portrayals of Blair It wasn't just that he reminded audiences of the puppyish enthusiasm and idealism that had first made Blair a viable prospect for Prime Minister: from the moment he flashed his floodlit smile in The Deal and chirruped: 'Hi - Tony Blair!', his combination of mockery, affection and acute detail elevated the portrayal beyond mere impersonation

In plain, pellucid language, he goes on to explain how 'we' - all of us; not just authors in pursuit of other authors - can seek this state of being 'in food, drink, sex, and lying in the sun ... at rock concerts and in gospel choirs, at gambling tables, at football finals, riding on surfboards, even on roller coasters and on bushwalks'. (One way I've always sought it is at the movies - and in casting imaginary ones!)
This is not a licence for irresponsibility. The holiday from our routine self can only be that: a holiday. 'It has to be momentary,' Dessaix insists - and partly because, if we had no everyday responsibilities to return to, much of its charm and buzz would be lost.
Dessaix's extended riff on the nature of double selves, double beings, 'double lives', and the creative tension between them, turns out to be everybody's tale.
Ian Britain is the author of Once An Australian. He is editing a selection of Donald Friend's autobiographical writings.

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