Movie Review: W

Nov 12 2008 by Ian Bunting, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

DIRECTED by Oliver Stone, ‘W.’ stars Josh Brolin as George W. Bush and tells the story of his life, from his younger years all the way to his difficult time as President.

Director Stone is no stranger to controversial material, with ‘JFK’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ among his previous work, and members of the Bush family have claimed ‘W.’ is not an accurate portrayal.

Bush is shown doing some jail time and there are hints that he impregnated a Texan girl. His alcoholism is also touched upon and more beer is downed in the first 45 minutes than in your average teen comedy.

Brolin, fresh from his outstanding turn in ‘No Country for Old Men’, gives another impressive performance. Vocally he is spot on and visually he just about pulls it off. He helps keep the character from total farce, especially during Bush’s earlier years.

It is not quite a one man show, though, as James Cromwell (George Bush Snr) also shines and it is this father/son relationship that provides ‘W’s’ main highlight, Bush initially looking for his father’s respect and then trying to better his Presidential term.

British stars Thandie Newton (Condoleezza Rice) and Ioan Gruffudd (Tony Blair), however, verge on the comical as they give earnest impressions of their characters.

‘W.’s’ tone, generally, is very uneven as it plays like a comedy half of the time. In the first cabinet meeting scene, Bush puts his feet up on his desk and Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn) doodles on paper. We are also treated to a few ‘Bushisms’, including his mispronunciation of Guantanamo Bay and the nugget “is our children learning.”

This doesn’t mix too well with scenes of combat footage and meetings discussing possible war but probably sums up Bush’s erratic mindset and decision making.

‘W.’ is not a bad movie but has just come a little too late in the day, with Bush’s presidency about to come to an end. At over two hours long it also overstays its welcome.

Other than Brolin’s great work (he even makes you empathise with Bush at times) this is a solid but unremarkable account of arguably the most hated President of all time.

Rating - 6 out of 10.