W.

Oliver Stone’s third dabble in politics after JFK and Nixon saw him take on former President George W. Bush.  While not as enthralling as the first or captivating as the second, W. is quite fascinating and clearly damning of the Bush presidency.

The plot analyzes the handling of the Iraqi “threat” after the tragedy of September 11 by Bush and his team of advisors and cabinet members during W’s first term.  This is all interspersed with scenes from Bush’s past: the alcohol infused college years, the failings in the workplace, meeting his future wife Laura, finding his footing in politics, and following his religious calling.

W. straddles a fine line.  On the one hand, it tries to coldly show the audience that personal interests and politics constantly meddled in the interests of the State and influenced the administration’s policies.  On the other, it is a clear dramatization of the events that plunged the United States into one of its darkest periods, from which the country is still recovering.  As such it can sometimes feel contrived, but having lived through the Bush years, I also know that the many incredible things he says or does actually happened.

The art direction and costumes are good while the cinematography and editing work in sync to show us a man resentful of his famous and powerful father and his predilection for his younger brother Jeb.  George clearly suffered from a complex of inferiority that pushed him to prove himself.  Unfortunately for all of us, he obviously didn’t have the mettle to be President and, once in the Oval Office, it showed, with one wrong, deceiving, or misguided decisions after the next.

While some of the actors seem to barely play caricatures of their real counterparts (I’m looking at you Thandie Newton, Scott Glenn, Richard Dreyfuss, and Toby Jones), others do a fine job of channeling their characters, like Jeffrey Wright, Bruce McGill, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, and Elizabeth Banks.  Fortunately, the best performance comes from the actor that matters most, the handsome Josh Brolin, who plays W. with panache and contentment and with the right amount of pretentiousness, naiveté, and swagger.

While not a great movie per se, it’s worth a look for the light it shines on the backroom deals that had the ultimate effect of threatening the worldwide leadership role  and image of the US and of soiling the Bush name, perhaps (hopefully) undermining Jeb Bush’s chances of running for the presidency for good.

Grade: 7