W.

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

Directed by: Oliver Stone

The Skinny: Hey, remember that ruinous president who's still in office? Yeah, well, here's a movie about his life and career from early Texas hellraiser to the brink of the Iraq War.

The Good: Josh Brolin acquits himself well in the title role, managing to balance the delicate line between playing a character and doing an impression. The same can be said of Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell and Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney. Theirs are the only performances that stand out in a good way. Wright's performance hints at a better movie—the tragic breaking of a once noble military man.

The Bad: Pretty much the rest of it. The tone is all over the place—at times you're asked to laugh at Bush and his cronies (which is its own issue—anyone ready to think Karl Rove is funny?), other times to take them seriously. The problem lies in the movie's complete lack of perspective. You can't begin to put Bush into context yet when the Iraq War is still raging without an end in site. Plus, not only does W. not tell us a single thing we didn't already know about the man, it glosses over major events. The movie makes it seem like Dubya just cruised into the Oval office and didn't claw his way to it in the single most controversial presidential election in U.S. history (The fact he technically "lost" isn't important? Kind of a big thing to overlook, Ollie). The rest is a mire of some piss-poor acting (Thandie Newton's Condoleezza Rice is just embarrassing) and a lame script (it's not dialogue, it's strung together keywords: Someone said "decider"! Someone said "axis of evil!" Someone said "shock and awe!")

Oliver Stone Doesn't Care About Black People?: As bad as the state of the world is as W.'s end credits roll, just remind yourself that the movie ends before they even get to Hurricane Katrina. It's more chilling end note than Carrie's hand reaching out of the grave, and another reason why W. can't possibly hope to comment on Bush's legacy in the slightest.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? It's a rental for the curious, but, sadly, Stone has botched a chance to make a truly meaningful film.

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