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 Never one to shy away from controversy--and following on from JFK and NIXON--director Oliver Stone concludes his 'Presidential Trilogy' with W., a star-laden biopic of America's 43rd president, George W. Bush. John Brolin (AMERICAN GANGSTER, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) stars as our eponymous 'hero' in this critical analysis of Bush's rise from election through his first term as president of the United States. Elizabeth Banks (ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, SPIDER-MAN), James Cromwell (CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) and Ellen Burstyn (THE EXORCIST, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) co-star as Bushes Laura, George H. W. and Barbara, and are ably supported by the likes of Thandie Newton (CRASH, ROCKNROLLA), JEFFREY WRIGHT (BASQUIAT, QUANTAM OF SOLACE), Richard Dreyfuss (JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND), Ioan Gruffud (FANTASTIC FOUR, KING ARTHUR) and Scott Glenn (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, TRAINING DAY) filling out the cast as Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, Tony Blair and Donald Rumsfeld, respectively.
The life and times of George Walker Bush as recounted by Oliver Stone When it comes to making movies about their leaders, American filmmakers prefer to wait until their presidents have left office or, better still, passed on. In the perfect situation, the man in question will have died a few decades ago, allowing time for a reevaluation of his contribution to his country and for most of his loved ones to have also shuffled off his mortal coil. This being so, it's quite amazing that Oliver Stone should be willing to i) make a movie about the Commander-In-Chief and ii) make it something other than a glowing celebration of the man at the top. He's got cajones, Oliver Stone - but then you probably knew that, what with his war record, his ready willingness to say whatever's on his mind and his contentment at making movies that leave his fellow countrymen feeling anything but content. Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, US 'counterinsurgency' - next to explosive subjects like these, W. probably struck Stone as small beer. Less a biopic than a catalogue of pivotal moments, the film skips between the run-up to the second Gulf War and such highlights as Bush (Brolin) being hazed at university, almost coming to blows with his old man (Cromwell) and having his ass handed to him in his first congressional race. Meeting his wife (Banks), quitting drinking, discovering God, deciding to run for high office - it's all here, spliced between scenes in which Bush Jr and his inner circle bully and cajole their way towards accomplishing what his old man never could - namely the defeat of Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein. Having already made one movie about a controversial president, it's fair to say a lot of people will compare Stone's W. with 1995's Nixon. This would be a mistake. A dark account of a complex figure, Nixon has a comprehensiveness about it made possible by the passing of time. By contrast, W. is so light as to sometimes resemble a soap opera. For some this is the main strike against the picture. But allowing the chaotic events of Dubya's life to spill over like the plotlines from a politically-charged season of 'Falcon Crest' actually works very well. With Bush's poll figures almost in single digits and his reputation so deep in the mud as to risk fossilisation, other directors might have sought to savage a lame duck president. Stone, though, extracts a more subtle revenge. He turns Bush into a clown. Since Stone's own humourlessness is on a par with his lack of subtlety (bong! - war is bad!), it's surprising just how funny W. is. From Bush and cronies Condoleezza Rice (Newton), Dick Cheney (Dreyfuss), Donald Rumsfeld (Glenn) and Karl Rove (Jones) deciding what to call the latest Iraq insurgency to the most powerful man in the world struggling to understand the vice-president's revoltingly simplistic plans for world domination, the laughs come thick and fast. To witness such great moments as George introducing "misunderestimate" into the English language is to be reminded that those "And finally..." malapropisms and Youtube highlights were the product of a man in a unique position of power. As these moments play out on the big screen they attain a new historical dimension. Those that voted for Dubya may be amazed that they gave the nod to someone so proud of his ability to distinguish Iran from Iraq. Amusing as it is, you needn't fear that W. plays like a feature-length edition of 'That's My Bush!', Trey Parker and Matt Stone's disappointing Dubya sitcom. With Stanley Weiser on screenwriting duties (he's the guy who managed to make Gordon Gecko halfway likeable in Wall Street) we're rarely in a position to completely despise Dubya. Keen to point up achievements such as overcoming alcoholism, there's an even-handedness here that might surprise conservatives. While he does strike at his subject, Stone seems more concerned with chastising those people stupid enough to think that Bush's political naivety could be negated by the people he surrounded himself with. With old hands like Cheney and 'Rummy' in his corner, how could he possibly go wrong? How could he possibly have gotten anything right, Stone replies. Talking of Dubya's confidants, special mention must go to Dreyfuss, Glenn and Jones for doing such a bang-up job of breathing fresh life into old farts. If Dreyfuss doesn't receive an Oscar nomination for his Dick Cheney, he should at least be able to console himself with being a shoo-in for the bad guy roles in all future Hollywood blockbusters. As for the other 'cabinet members', only Thandie Newton seems off-key as Condi Rice, her overplaying bringing too mind Paul Sorvino's cartoonish turn as Henry Kissinger in Nixon. Then again, just as Stone has a particular distaste for the inventor of 'real politik' maybe Newton's excesses are indicative of a similar contempt for the secretary of state. More immune from criticism is Josh Brolin's quite amazing performance as George Jr. Smart enough not to attempt a straight impression of Bush, Brolin manages the remarkable feat of making the leader of the free world seem reasonably complex. Bush is no stranger to commitment and charm, but Brolin is as happy to smash away at his character, often portraying less attractive qualities such as greediness in repellently literal terms. Brolin proves particularly adept at doing Bush at his dumbest. That look of simian gormlessness that cartoonist Steve Bell quickly seized upon crops up time and again, most memorably in the climactic fantasy scene. It's giving nothing away to say that the film finishes with Dubya on a baseball field waiting to catch a fly ball. The longer he waits, the further his brow furrows and the more his jaw drops. What he doesn't know, but what we quickly realise, is that the only thing heading his way is a faceful of egg. Thanks to Stone's mastery of the medium, by the time it arrives the egg's been whipped into an exquisite soufflé of the sort any political animal could enjoy.  Elizabeth Banks ... Laura Bush Josh Brolin ... George W. Bush Colin Hanks ... Speechwriter Thandie Newton ... Condoleezza Rice Stacy Keach ... Rev. Earle Hudd Richard Dreyfuss ... Dick Cheney Ioan Gruffudd ... Tony Blair Marley Shelton ... Fran Noah Wyle ... Don Evans Ellen Burstyn ... Barbara Bush Jesse Bradford ... Thatcher Jason Ritter ... Jeb Bush James Cromwell ... George H. W. Bush Scott Glenn ... Donald Rumsfeld Jeffrey Wright ... Gen. Colin Powell Toby Jones ... Karl Rove Bruce McGill ... George Tenet Jonathan Breck ... Corndog Rob Corddry ... Ari Fleischer Wes Chatham ... Jimmy Benedict Sayed Badreya ... Saddam Hussein Dennis Boutsikaris ... Paul Wolfowitz Michael Gaston ... Gen. Tommy Franks J. Grant Albrecht ... Jacques Chirac (as Charles Fathy) Randal Reeder ... Oilrig Foreman Jennifer Sipes ... Susie Evans Teresa Cheung ... Asian Journalist 'Miss China' Allan Kolman ... Vladimir Putin Drew Waters ... Navy Seal Madison Mason ... Adm. Kelly Paul Rae ... Kent Hance Anne Pressly ... Anchorwoman #1 James Martin Kelly ... NSC Official Tom Kemp ... David Kay David Born ... Texas Debate Moderator Bryan Massey ... Skeeter Maria Chen ... Military Aid Chris Freihofer ... Evangelical Jim Garrity ... Commentator Jack Hawk Bruce Bryant ... Odessa Debate Patron Andrew Sensenig ... Reporter #1 Jon Michael Davis ... Campaign Aide Randall Newsome ... Paul Bremer Gabriela Ostos-Tamez ... Reporter #2 Terry Gamble ... Rove Aid Jeff Gibbs ... Josiah Pringle Jeff Hoferer ... McCormick Jonna Juul-Hansen ... Jan O'Neil Taylor Treadwell ... Anchorwoman #2 Bill Stinchcomb ... Secret Service Agent Paul T. Taylor ... Texas Reporter #4 Brent Weisner ... Secret Service Agent William Lanier ... Resort Waiter John Neisler ... White House Lawyer Lee Ann McDade ... News Woman Thomas Wallace ... John Negroponte Brinkley A. Maginnis ... Anita Bush Ronan Summers ... CIA Agent W. Douglas Waterfield ... Richard Armitage Jonathon Tripp ... News Boom Operator IMDB Trailer Download Torrent 
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