W. Review

I went into W., Oliver Stones new movie, not because I was looking for a political commentary on how what Bush has done in office was wrong, but because I wanted to see an interesting take on the bringing ups of our ape-like prez. Hell, if I'd wanted a good slandering of the guy I would've gone up to the average joe on the street and asked him what he thought of Bush and the answer would've been a dumbed down version of what Stone tries to convey in the second half of his movie.

I don't lean particularly left or right, I don't classifly myself as a Republican or Democrat, and I am still decidedly undecided on the 08' candidates. I am not the demographic that Olive Stone is trying to preach to for those reasons which is why I had a hard time following the movie.

I'll start with the good, which as you've well heard (and if not at least assumed) W. himself is of course fantastic. Josh Brolin is amazing and stands out in a time where it's popular to make fun of a man whose already been made fun of time and time again. Brolin is the movie W. and he deserves a fair amount of praise. To say Oscar nomination is not unlikely, but the season is still too early.

The moments where Brolin works best are in the early parts of the movie. The non-politics parts. His upbringing sure say a lot about him and we see that conveyed well on screen. Reckless and drunk, George Bush, or rather Brolin, really is able to show us a man broken by his father (played by James Cromwell). Bush wakes up and finds Jesus which is really when the movie begins to go sour.

The most painful parts of the movie to watch begin when Bush starts his political career and the moments that happen during it. Now it's just like any other political satire out there. Famous people slandering politicians. We get it, it's funny but bring back the young and stupid Bush. If I want to see Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney I would turn on Saturday Night Live. The truth is I wanted to see Actors in an ensemble biopic and the movie never delivers in that respect. The performances are all around not that good with Dreyfuss particularly bad. Scott Glenn as Donald Rummsfeld is too over the top to be realistic while the same goes for Ioan Gruffudd as Tony Blair. Cromwell is good as George Bush Sr. but Ellen Burstyn is wasted in a role with very little screen time for such a mature actress.

Then we get to all the political undertones. If the Thandy Newton as Condolleezza Rice of this movie was like a mild itch to me, then War Room scenes were like a third-degree burn. Over dramatic, over acted and over shined by everyone but the title character, these scenes are the Achilles Heel of this film. They showcase his "amazing" cast and George Bush has little to do with them. In a movie generally devoted to humanizing a character and showing his life, the definition of a biopic I believe, you have got to cut scenes like these. Which leads us to...

Oliver Stone. The director, while clearly a democrat, does try to get us to sympathize with the Prez, which are ironically the parts that work and are enjoyable. Then he goes all Democrat on the viewers ass and scares you away. He even tries to throw more sympathy in the mix with Colin Powell's character who plays the devil's advocate several times. Wake up Stone! If you even watched a minute of TV in the past 4 years you'd realize that no one agrees with whats going on and that politically the guy made some mistakes! Don't waste my time when YOU made a good movie and then let your political ruin the movie. Grade - C-