W. is Oliver Stone’s off-beat take on the life of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. The film spands from his wild fraternity days at Yale, however brief, all the way up to and includig his Presidency. Stone has been known to create films that are very contraversial. His depiction of the John F. Kennedy assassination, JFK, which was probably his most contraversial films ever, also one of my favorites. You could even say that his most celebrated film, Platoon was contraversial. But recently, Stone hasn’t just made contraversial films, he’s made them way to early after events or era’s are even over. A couple years ago, he made World Trade Center less then five years after 9/11. But the film itself wasn’t half bad. This time around, he’s made a film about a president…who is still in office. The man just doesn’t care, and perhaps that’s why he’s a genius.
In the film, George W. Bush is portrayed as a spoiled rich kid who drinks to much booze and who’s biggest problem is stepping out of his father’s shadow and earning his approval. The role of Dubya, or Junior, was portrayed by Josh Brolin who, might I say, nailed this one on the head. Which by the way, seems like a trend from any film he’s been in of late. We are all use to the impersonations and impressions of George W. Bush that we see on TV. But the one that Brolin offers us is more human and full of emotions that we’ve never connected to the President. We see the personal side of a man who we all agree is an outright moron, but with Charisma. Regardless of your political views on Bush, seeing this film is a refreshing take on the man and his life before his stint in the oval office. A great performace by one of the best working actors today.
The supporting cast is a huge. You have Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney aka Vice, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld aka Rumy, Thandie Newton as Condoleeza Rice aka Rice, Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush and of course James Cromwell as George Herbert Walker Bush aka HW aka Poppi. Other than impersonations of George W. Bush, and the memory of H.W. in office, there aren’t any impersonations from the other cabinet members that we can go off of. Or at least I can’t. But I have to say they were all very good in their own right. Dreyfuss’ Vice was a very interesting turn of the Vice President. You almost get the image of Daniel Planview in Vice towards the end, especially when they’re all in the War Room and he’s practically drooling from the mouth talking about taking over the world. Good performance. However, the supporting performance that I enjoyed the most was that of James Cromwell’s Poppi. It was very moving at parts, and I think he portrayed H.W. not as the former president or congressman or any of that, he simply was the father. Towards the end it was more clear that he was trying to defend his son more than anything.
All in all, W. was a decent film that had one outstanding performance that carried it throughout and that was Josh Brolin as it’s title role. Good supporting roles kept it interesting and I never felt it was a great film, nor was it a bad film. I know it wasn’t intentional, or perhaps it was, but there were a few parts that I laughed out loud because of Brolin’s spot-on performance. You’ll recognize the moment when you see it, and because you’ve seen them in the news. A good flick.
IMDB – 7.0/10
Rottentomatoes – 56%
moviewiseguys – 6.5/10