W. (2008)

Review:

No human life can be reduced to a thesis and adhere to reality. This is the truth of a life’s complexity and the source of most biopics’ shortcomings. It’s a bit simplistic to argue that a few specific moments in a particular year can inform the actions of a few other moments in the future. As it stands though, “W.” comes off as a compelling biopic of a man we all know so well.

“W.” doesn't give an objective account of the rise (and fall) of President George W. Bush. It is steeped in the liberal vantage point typical to an Oliver Stone film. Bush (played with a spot on impersonation by Josh Brolin) is depicted as a lost young man, perpetually stuck in the shadow of his father and ambitious brother. He drinks Jack Daniels straight from the bottle, he leads women on, and he can never settle on a career. He dreams of becoming a baseball star and winds up in politics – mostly to impress George Sr. (James Cromwell). Such is the rise of President Bush.

The fall we are all familiar with. Never a great political mind or public speaker, Oliver Stone depicts Bush in his presidency as a fish out of water; a man easily manipulated by those around him, including Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfus) and Karl Rove (Tobey Jones). Stone presents Cheney and Bush as men intent on war in Iraq for very different reasons. Cheney has oil on his mind. Bush has a family vendetta to attend to.

When things start to deteriorate in Iraq, Bush is a fish out of water left to dry in the sun. He cannot bring himself to admit his wrongs because they are derived from a personal agenda that would compromise the already defunct legitimacy of his presidency.

All the players in “W.” maintain marvelous impersonations of their real life counterparts. The only exception to this would be Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, whose voice is an exaggerated and grating rendition of Rice’s real cadence.

At the end of the day, “W.” is a mesmerizing character study. Made and released in the last days of the Bush Administration, there was great potential for this film to be inflammatory or insensitive. As it stands, Oliver Stone looks at President Bush with a generous, sympathetic eye. But maybe the film is too simplistic in portraying Bush as a man driven solely by the need to impress his father and maintain a family legacy. Then again, maybe all biopics are too simplistic. Who’s to say?

Regardless, many men never quite find their way in this world and it’s nothing to hold against them. But not many men also become President of the United States – and maybe we can hold that against him.

Rating:

On a scale of one to Casablanca, this film is a “Bringing Out the Dead.”

Rationalization:

That driven men driving at the wrong thing can be dangerous could be one message construed from this film. Another message could be that it is better for everyone to try and understand a person before coming to a sweeping judgment about their malevolence. There is no doubt Bush was a bad president and no doubt that decisions he made in office led to hundreds or thousands of deaths in the middle east. But you can’t rest an entire war on one man’s shoulders. Oliver Stone’s “W.” implores you to see Bush as a fallible man before a figurehead and lets you connect the dots.