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W.

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones, Stacy Keach, Bruce McGill, Thandie Newton and Jeffery Wright

Directed By: Oliver Stone

PG-13 for language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images

By John Delia

Oliver Stone the filmmaker that brought you JFK, Nixon, The Day Regan was Shot and The Last Days of Kennedy and King, continues ‘docu-dramatizing’ famous political faces with W., a strange perspective on the current President of the United States. The main problem I had with the film is that it could have been a great satire, and it wasn’t. It is a conservative movie about a president that tells us no more than we already know. This ‘so what’ story turns out to be much like the results of the last four years of the 43rd President of the United States, not much for which to be thankful.
The biography follows George W. Bush from his wild life in college to his association with his professional baseball team, conflicts with his father, and the years leading up to his decision as President to go to war in Iraq. The film delves into his troubles and triumphs, how he met his wife, his association with Karl Rove, and how he got to be President. The only controversial thing that I could ferret out from the film is the hint that Bush wanted to bring down Saddam Hussein to show his father that he was not a wimp. Since Bush is still in office, the ending leaves you with no real ending.
Although the film is presented with a lot of factual material, researched by both screenplay/writer Stanley Weiser and director Stone, there are a lot of dramatizations that I found very amusing. At one point we find George on the toilet while taking to his wife in a hotel room. It made me wonder where they found that little tidbit and who would have brought that to light in the first place. Oh, and the conversation he had at a party where he met his wife, kind of cute, but with what meaning. In my opinion, if you are going to make a film about any President, it should be a documentary whereby we get reality and not dramatic prose.
As for the acting in the film, I think that Josh Brolin did a good job of portraying the President, but he was a little distracting at times. While his voice and swagger do resemble Bush, his facial expressions were over exaggerated at times. Those actors making doubles for the people surrounding Bush that were extremely good fits, include; Toby Jones as Karl Rove and Richard Dreyfus as Dick Chaney. While Thandie Newton did look a little like Condi Rice and Jeffery Wright looked somewhat like Colin Powell, neither could make the grade.
The directing in the film was lacking as compared to Stone’s previous biographies on famous people. Maybe if he would have waited some five or 10 years or so like he did with JFK or Nixon, that it would have been a more interesting film. For those who are obsessed with government figures, there’s a documentary coming out soon called Boogie Man which tells the story of political activist Lee Atwater the “truth spinner” who worked for Republican Presidents like Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush. In the documentary, you will get some insight on George W. Bush that verifies some of the image created by Stone in W.
The film contains language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images

FINAL ANALYSIS: W. is a ho-hum movie that may be somewhat interesting to curiosity seekers and history students. (2 out of 5 stars)