Movie Notes: W.
= 4 stars
Starring Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Elizabeth Banks
Directed by Oliver Stone
Synopsis
President George W. Bush (Josh Brolin) tries to rise above his aimless youth and emerge from the shadow of his father, previous president George Bush.
The Good
- Josh Brolin’s performance is nothing short of amazing — save for the squinty eyes he doesn’t really resemble Bush that much, but his voice, tics, and attitude more than make up for it. It’s hard to believe this is the same actor from No Country For Old Men and Milk.
- Other actors portraying real life individuals are less successful but overall entertaining — Richard Dreyfuss makes a creepy, calculating Dick Cheney, Elizabeth Banks a great eye-rolling Barbara Bush, and Jeffrey Wright as skeptical Colin Powell round out the cast. The overall feeling is a bizarre cast of eccentric characters like Dick Tracy villains invading the White House — which is surely what Stone intended.
- Bush is portrayed as a clueless, accidental president with a self-centered energy and attitude. The film makes it a real head scratcher that he ever got elected. The personality of the character here, is of a man who became president for selfish reasons and his own idea of right and wrong, living in a bubble of priviledge. Whether or not you agree with this characterization, there’s no question Stone effectively gets this point across.
The Bad
- Doesn’t lay out anything not already known or suspected and therefore seems to have an uncharacteristic lack of guts or controversial dirt for a Stone movie. Farthest it goes is oil as a reason to go to war with Iraq, and W’s drinking problem.
- Biggest failure is James Cromwell’s performance as Bush senior, convincing as a distant father but not as otherworldly in comparison to Brolin’s channeling.
Conclusion
The main reason to see W. is Brolin’s excellent performance. All else falls a bit short of the mark, and I was left with the sad feeling this would be an excellent Dr. Strangelove black comedy were it not for its basis in recent history. If only it were true that comedy = tragedy + time.
IMDB: W.
Wikipedia: W.
Rotten Tomatoes: W. 60%