Directed by:
Oliver StoneScreenplay:
Stanley WeiserCinematography:
Phedon PapamichaelComposer:
Paul CantelonCast:
Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones, Stacy Keach, Bruce McGill, Wes Chatham, Thandiwe Newton (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
W. takes viewers through Bush's eventful life -- his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to Bush's decision to invade Iraq. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (4)
Reviews (7)
Many people expected that Oliver Stone and George Bush would settle things without scruples and that a political pamphlet would emerge rather than a biographical drama. For the American left, Bush's victory was a slap in the face. After all, let's admit seriously that it was on the edge of legitimacy and tested American institutions and society to the utmost. Strangely enough, Stone approached the material with the utmost seriousness and wanted to make a dignified drama. But, alas, screenwriter Stanley Weiser unfortunately didn't excel and the result was also marked by the fact that Bush Jr. simply wasn't a charismatic personality. Instead, he was in the right place at the right time, with his advisors from public relations doing the work for him. The only thing that stands out in the film is Josh Brolin's great performance in the lead role. That is clearly a five-star affair. Everything else is forgettable and, within Stone's filmography, this piece belongs to the least remarkable films. Overall impression: 45%.
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Oliver Stone made a film that didn't harm anyone, except perhaps himself. Josh Brolin's excellent performance is one thing, but the film is actually about an ordinary person trying to come to terms with what is coming. I don't care that G.W. Bush is a normal, ordinary person. I don't understand the point of watching a two-hour film that tries to convince us that Bush is our man. If this was supposed to be satire and caricature of this man, Stone succeeded so well in hiding it that it ultimately became glorification and even justification of the Iraq War. Treating the omission of 9/11 as a suitable element in the film seems to me like a tool to avoid controversy, which this movie manages to do very well. It's incredibly flat.
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The conscience of America speaks up again, but fortunately, treads very carefully this time. Oliver Stone has created a perfect compromise, not trying at all costs to portray Bush as an ordinary guy, nor turning him into an archvillain. There were plenty of others who have done that in the past decade. In this story, there are mistakes made, but not even a trace of personal antipathy is added to them. After all, the relationship with his father explains his ambitions while still staying within the factual boundaries. Thanks to this, W. turns out to be a perfectly serious study. And yet not the study of a famous personality, but of mass hatred.
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Given that I quite hated Bush, I liked W. almost too much. I can blame it on a) the excellent Josh Brolin who has Bush down to a T, portrays him perfectly, and on top of that, lends him incredible charisma, b) Oliver Stone, who took this biography in a very different direction than I expected and c), though it doesn't seem very likely to me, George W. Bush himself. I truly don't know. It's definitely a very well-shot biography (which is probably missing the most important chapter but that was obviously the intention) of a funny, confused guy who just wanted to step out of his father's shadow. Which he did, but unfortunately for him, in a negative way.
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I can't decide if Stone was glorifying or caricaturing Bush, but this biography is incredible. It deliberately avoids "breakthrough" moments (no direct confrontation with 9/11, just talking about it in the past tense), but instead emphasizes the main character who has to struggle with whatever life throws at him. The time when it was made makes it seem complex, but it will lose its relevance in a few years (and after a few other presidents). This also hurts the film in that, for (non)political reasons, no academics will celebrate it in any way, which is unfair at least to Josh Brolin, who is... just think of Bush's speeches (intonations, gestures, attitudes) and then watch the film. You will understand that Josh is simply brilliant! I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I got something completely different. Stone doesn't provoke, Stone surprises. Cleverly! PS: In a few years, it will be forgotten and will barely get 3 stars, but right now it was entertaining as hell!
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