Having lionised and humanised American presidents in JFK and Nixon respectively Oliver Stone turns his attention to George W. Bush. The film was clearly written before the financial crisis took hold as it focuses on the build up to the invasion of Iraq and Bush's journey from boozy hellraiser to president of the United States of America.
The story is pretty well known: the son of the head of the CIA cum Vice President finds personal salvation through belief in Jesus and leaves behind his hellraising and alcohol abuse to become president. The film is about the personal journey rather than an analysis of his political faculties. Stone is seen as a political film maker but even his most politically themed films focus on the personal story of the protagonist rather than espousing a leftist belief. Great emphasis is placed on Bush's relationship with his father and his apparent inability to please him. Whereas Nixon portrayed a capable man haunted and encumbered by his own insecurities, W. shows a rather lazy, simple man with little ability beyond charm.
Much like Anthony Hopkins playing Nixon, Josh Brolin gives an impression of the president without doing an impression but lacks Bush's trademark smirk. This makes for a more convincing character rather than one thinking, "Oh, he's just like Bush there" or "that was unconvincing". The supporting cast are convincing except English actress Thandie Newton in the role of Condi Rice who does a strangely affected voice.
Stone's direction is more restrained than in the past. The editing is more conventional than than the "vertical" style he started with on JFK and took to extremes on Natural Born Killers. In an interview a few years ago he rejected criticisms that his works lacks subtlety and claimed that the cross-cutting and juxtaposition was subtle. W. is a far more subtle film; only when Bush portrays himself as a hero and the soundtrack plays the Robin Hood theme does it become a little crass.
The film is an entertaining dramatisation of a man's rise to power but falls short as depiction of a president. The film goes no further than 2003, 9/11 features only in dialogue and mentions nothing of Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis which has gripped the world. Perhaps when the script was written it seemed that the invasion of Iraq would be Bush's lasting legacy but that was premature. Nixon ended with a man's fall from grace but with an assertion of the positives he achieved such as opening dialogue with China but this ends with a man slightly lost. The film's release was timed to coincide with the 2008 election and timely as that may have been it's resulted in an inconclusive film.
The story is pretty well known: the son of the head of the CIA cum Vice President finds personal salvation through belief in Jesus and leaves behind his hellraising and alcohol abuse to become president. The film is about the personal journey rather than an analysis of his political faculties. Stone is seen as a political film maker but even his most politically themed films focus on the personal story of the protagonist rather than espousing a leftist belief. Great emphasis is placed on Bush's relationship with his father and his apparent inability to please him. Whereas Nixon portrayed a capable man haunted and encumbered by his own insecurities, W. shows a rather lazy, simple man with little ability beyond charm.
Much like Anthony Hopkins playing Nixon, Josh Brolin gives an impression of the president without doing an impression but lacks Bush's trademark smirk. This makes for a more convincing character rather than one thinking, "Oh, he's just like Bush there" or "that was unconvincing". The supporting cast are convincing except English actress Thandie Newton in the role of Condi Rice who does a strangely affected voice.
Stone's direction is more restrained than in the past. The editing is more conventional than than the "vertical" style he started with on JFK and took to extremes on Natural Born Killers. In an interview a few years ago he rejected criticisms that his works lacks subtlety and claimed that the cross-cutting and juxtaposition was subtle. W. is a far more subtle film; only when Bush portrays himself as a hero and the soundtrack plays the Robin Hood theme does it become a little crass.
The film is an entertaining dramatisation of a man's rise to power but falls short as depiction of a president. The film goes no further than 2003, 9/11 features only in dialogue and mentions nothing of Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis which has gripped the world. Perhaps when the script was written it seemed that the invasion of Iraq would be Bush's lasting legacy but that was premature. Nixon ended with a man's fall from grace but with an assertion of the positives he achieved such as opening dialogue with China but this ends with a man slightly lost. The film's release was timed to coincide with the 2008 election and timely as that may have been it's resulted in an inconclusive film.
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