W. (Widescreen)
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Movie Reviews of W. (Widescreen)
Movie Review: Great Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
An interesting look at the kinds of individuals that we are supposed to view as leaders. A study of stated goals vs real goals of empire. Josh Brolin's performance is a very convincing GWB. As always, when it comes to contemporary politics, Oliver Stone IS THE MAN.Movie Review: W the movie
Summary: 5 Stars
The impression of George Bush is incredibly accurate. It is a mean but, I believe, accurate portrayal.Movie Review: Hi
Summary: 5 Stars
George did enough cocaine to kill a small horse and I no longer wish to have a barbecue with him.Movie Review: W
Summary: 5 Stars
Very good movie, the acting is excellent and the story is top notch. It is a must see movie.Movie Review: It's Better Than What You've Been Led To Believe
Summary: 4 Stars
When I first heard about W., my initial reaction was that there was no way it could be a good movie. Oliver Stone is a good director who has sometimes made great films. However, when it comes to the Presidential movies he's made, JFK and NIXON, his record is atrocious. It's also a well known fact that Stone is not a fan of President George W. Bush and Stone isn't really known for keeping his politics out of his movies. I admit that the trailers for the movie piqued my interest, but instead of watching the movie in theatres I waited until the DVD release to watch the movie. I was very surprised by what I saw.
The movie is not told in a linear fashion and instead see-saws back and forth between President Bush's life. It begins in 2002, then flashbacks to 1966, then flashes forward to 2002, then to 1969, then to 2003, etc. Sometimes such a storytelling device is difficult to follow, but it works well in W. The movie basically follows George W. Bush as he goes from being a rowdy, drunken college student with a famous father to being a meandering journeyman traveling from one job and profession into another until he eventually feels led to enter politics. He becomes the governor of Texas and, of course, ultimately the President of the United States. The portrait that is painted is not one of a man with a hidden agenda and a plan to remake the country and world in his image, but instead of a man blessed with gifts who kept screwing up his life, but finally turned it around and decided he wanted to make the world a better place. It presents us with a man who truly wanted to do the right thing and believed in what he did. It's a very human look at our ex-President.
That's not to say the movie doesn't make fun of Bush, because there are times that it does. The movie spends a good deal of time (probably a third all total) showing Bush's drinking problems and womanizing. There are scenes where the President is talking with one of his staff, particularly Vice President Chaney (Richard Dreyfuss) and it's obvious to the audience that the Vice President is just using Bush to meet his own goals and fulfill his own agenda. In scenes such as these, the Bush is presented as a bumpkin who is in over his head. The movie also tries to present the case that everything that George W. Bush did was to earn the approval of his domineering father, George H.W. Bush. Still, despite the negative aspects the movie shows of his personal history and character, overall the movie presents a complex and interesting view of our 43rd President.
Some elements of the film have been dramatically fictionalized, others taken directly (and at times quoted) from history. Some people might be angered by the mixing of history and fiction, but most great biopics do that. No matter how famous people are or how interesting lives they lived, for a movie things have to be condensed and sometimes in order to connect loose ends an anecdote or scene has to be made up.
In my opinion, the main reason that W. is so compelling is because of the performance of Josh Brolin. Brolin wasn't Oliver Stone's first choice to play the title character, but it should have been. Brolin has proved himself time and time again that he is an amazing actor with an incredible amount of range. His performance as President George W. Bush is flawless. Ever mannerism, accent, and quirk of Bush are replicated perfectly. Brolin is matched in his performance by James Cromwell portraying Bush's father George H.W. Bush. Cromwell's characterization is far from the uncanny performance given by Brolin. However, he does do an excellent job of illustrating how the movie sees Bush Sr. as the foil for W. The only other noteworthy performance is that of Toby Jones as Karl Rove. Rove often is presented in a negative light, but just like President George W. Bush, the movie actually paints Rove in a more positive light--instead of an evil mastermind he's just a wunderkid who's really good at number crunching and reading a political landscape.
Richard Dreyfuss has received all kinds of praise for his portrayal as Dick Cheney, but in my opinion it's horrendous. Cheney is definitely the villain of the movie and Dreyfuss seemed to have taken an intense amount of glee in portraying a would-be criminal mastermind. In my opinion the performance is completely over-the-top. The humanization that Brolin, Jones, and to a lesser extent Cromwell bring to their roles is completely ignored by Cheney. It's not that Dreyfuss isn't capable of such a feat, because he is, but he just chose not do so. As for the rest of the cast, all of the other major performances aren't very good and are just characterizations.
I really enjoyed W. It's a much fairer portrait of President George W. Bush than would be expected from Oliver Stone and it's also an entertaining movie. Sadly, however, those on the political left will probably continue to ignore it because it isn't negative enough while those on the political right will ignore it because they've been led to believe it is too negative. If you can put aside your political beliefs and watch the movie for what it is, I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised.