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Langella won the Tony for that portrayal and now, just to show off his range, he's back as the exact opposite sort of politician. In "A Man for All Seasons," Langella plays the saintly Sir Thomas More, an English statesman who would rather die than compromise his ideals.

"A Man for All Seasons" last played on Broadway when JFK was in office, and it's about More's struggle to reconcile his Catholic faith with his loyalty to King Henry VIII, who violently separates the Church from England in order to get a divorce.

More wrestles with his conscience, preferring silence to taking a stand, until the wily, ambitious government climber Thomas Cromwell forces him to tip his hand. More's failure to bless the king's marriage ensures his death.

Robert Bolt's 1960 play, it must be said, hasn't aged terribly well. Yes, it features a few compelling showdown scenes, one with the king – a robust, energetic Patrick Page – and a tense interrogation of More by the scheming Cromwell – Zach Grenier, blandly menacing. But too often, the play creaks with expository filler and stilted philosophizing about ethics.

Moreover, in Doug Hughes's stodgy production, the accents are all over the map.

At least the cast is solid, and Langella holds center stage with grandeur and panache. Yet the message here is mere preaching to the choir: People in power should stand up for their principles.

But folks shouldn't come to the theater just to have their assumptions confirmed. Sir Thomas More certainly wouldn't.

If you saw the original Broadway run or love the movie version, cherish your memories and stay home. Those of us who want revivals with an edge will be left cold; this remount never shakes the dust off a musty script.

The story of one man standing up to his government is undoubtedly timely. But does it have to be so dull?