Movie Review: W.

Oliver Stone casts a Shakespearean view of 43 by Shelley Howard


Oliver Stone returns to a territory he is familiar with, a dramatic telling of recent history.  Here is another presidental figure we think we know well.   George “W” Bush will be remembered as the least popular president in history.   Most Americans view the last 8 years as a trainwreck.   Stone gives you some idea of why the train jumped the tracks.  Of perhaps, why it never should have left the station.   In all fairness, he is not as judgemental as you would expect.   Instead, he presents Bush as a figure in a modern Shakespearean tragedy.

The film jumps back and forth in time from 1966 to the period around the start of the Irag war.  It shows the drunken, clueless, directionless screw-up young Bush, and the sober, born-again clueless, directionless screw-up world stage Bush.   As he stuffs his face with sandwiches, chokes on a pretzel, and leads his country into a hopeless war, we wonder how in the world this man could be our leader.

Josh Brolin gives an oscar-worthy performance as he uncannily channels the vocal inflections and body language of the President.     In fact, W.'s entire cast is pretty spot on with excellent performances by RIchard Dreyfuss as Cheney, Thandie Newton as Condeleeza Rice, and Toby Jones as Karl Rove. You can also buy into James Cromwell as Daddy Bush, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, and Elizabeth Banks as Laura.

Much of the motivation for W’s actions seem to be his lifelong issues with “Poppi”, also known as George Herbert Walker Bush, the former 41st President, and a man who has pulled the strings for  “Junior” his whole life.  W. is angry, wants to be his own man, and all of his actions are executed to either prove himself to Dad, or to do things one step better.   It is his core conflict, and his reoccurring nightmare, and the result of this is the state of the nation we are dealing with today.  

I found the most disturbing parts of the film to be where Bush, seeking the justification to start a war, allows his cabinet to manipulate the truth to his liking.  Only Colin Powell, played by Jeffrey Wright shines as a voice of reason.   In another scene, Bush, while running for governor of Texas, sits on a park bench with Karl Rove, and gets prepped on answers to questions he doesn’t understand, but knows how to make the answers sound convincing.   Kinda like another governor we now have running for office.   Do we allow this to happen again?

Chicago native Shelley Howard has been called the “Hunter S. Thompson of Facebook status updates”   He makes Rock and Roll graphics by day, and can be found in the Viagra Triangle by night spouting politics and gonzo philosophy.

 

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