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W.
(2008)
 
As much as I am politically aligned with much of this film, W. doesn't live up to its own potential nor, I believe, the intentions of the filmmaker. It is, instead, a muddled pseudo-political biopic that comes across as more reactionary than anything else. Oliver Stone has long been painted (and perhaps rightfully so) as a radical, and it seems to me that he pulled punches in many aspects of W. so as not to come across as a pusher of anti-Bush propaganda. I'm not opposed to expose biopics of political figures, and actually think they serve an important role in both the arena of politics and in cinema, but this film was simply made too soon, a last ditch effort to hit Bush and the Republican party with a scathing attack before an important election.
Bush is painted here as a somewhat sympathetic character, which works against what I believe the intention of the film is, and is almost completely ineffective at telling a compelling story. For me, I think it's because Bush is still in office, and the innept character portrayed on screen still has the ability to make more mistakes. We see Bush, played artfully by Josh Brolin, as an immature rich kid who has never been able to gain his father's acceptance. Time and again W. fails at his endeavors to make something of himself, always with the intention of impressing his father and these scenes are intercut chronologically with his greatest and most famous blunder, the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003.
Was Stone trying to make us understand that this president who has tarnished the American name worldwide is a person too? That he has his own troubles and motivations for what he's
doing? That he really is just a loveable everyman from Texas? And if so, to what end? I was really hoping I'd enjoy this film more, but even as a strong critic of Bush, W. just wasn't a lot of fun to watch. If anything the humanization of the President served more to undermine any political commentary which could have been presented and muddied the overall effectiveness of the film.
I was further dismayed at the strange musical choices used, such as
organ circus music and soft, somber accoustic guitar when a more apt orchestral score would have been effective at raising tension and keepign the dramatic flow of the film in tact. I'd rather not associate the last eight years with a sideshow, but I think it's pretty clear that Stone intended us to make this connection. Odd dream sequences in the Oval Office and centerfield of Rangers Stadium further add to the disjunction between content and tone, leaving the viewer more confused than needed for what is essentially a simple story.
Performances
are, for the most part, decent, but give the sense that you're watching Saturday Night Live caricatures of these real-life personalities instead of a serious dramatic protrayals. The accents and idiosyncracies are present, but aside from Bush, Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright) and maybe Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss) there isn't enough meat to the characters to make them more than sock puppets. For what it's worth, though, everyone from Thandie Newton's Condoleeza Rice to James Cromwell's George H.W. Bush are exquisitely mimicked. That just isn't enough to give the film the injection of seriousness that it needs.
Overall, I think that W. had the potential to be a revealing look into the life of one of the 21st Century's most influential public figures, but instead comes off as a surface examination of a cartoon's daddy issues. If someone as left-leaning as myself can't get more enjoyment out of this film, or at least be roused in my disdain for the man, this is a clear sign of failure on the part of the filmmakers. Perhaps if I watch the film again in five or ten years, when the memory of Bush has faded, I'll find it a better film. But in the here and now, W. is a major disappointment.
-Mark Moreland
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Director:
Oliver Stone
Writer: Stanley Weiser
Starring: Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn
Distributor: Lionsgate
Runtime: Stanley Weiser
min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: October 17, 2008
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