W.

Oliver Stone
2008

Oliver Stone directs the film he was born to make: one that takes the piss out of a failed unpopular President, and released while said President is still in office. The depiction of Bush Jr. is expectedly snide and glib, hiding under the guise of straight biopic. Josh Brolin does a magnificent job inhabiting a man in constant struggle, whether it be against familial expectations and growing pains, to the loneliness of a personal conviction at odds with common sense and public opinion. While there was plenty of snickering in the theater at Bush's fumblings and reliance on rhetoric, I found the whole affair extremely depressing considering this comedy of errors has cost a butt-load of American lives, and all but ruined the reputation of the United States. The triumph of the picture comes from it's impeccable casting and styling. Nearly all the recognizable public figures are done well, but Richard Dreyfuss as Cheney, Toby Jones as Karl Rove, and Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice are pitch perfect. Unfortunately, James Cromwell's turn as George HW Bush leaves plenty to be desired, as the eminently recognizable actor fails to play the former President beyond the page - a shame considering the dramatic importance thrust upon the role. The film is also flawed in the sense that it plays directly to the national nightmare Americans have suffered the last eight years. "W." relies just as heavily on our contextual experience as it does on it's script's take on history - an interesting cinematic milestone from a cultural standpoint, but one that cannot stand up on it's own weight.