Discover Politics

Looking for a fun way to discover politics? Find politically-themed movies to suit your tastes. It beats the heck out of watching C-SPAN.

When one hears that Oliver Stone is making a biographical film about our 43rd President, it’s hard not to view it without some amount of prejudice. Stone is widely known for his controversial films, which have been criticized for distorting facts and leaning too far to the left. He is a chum of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, and is a fierce critic of George W. Bush’s foreign policy. Many see Stone as the antithesis of the former President.

W. is a broad criticism of George W. Bush and his rise to power, and in many ways it gives you what you would expect from its director. But the film doesn’t give the impression of an evil man, instead portraying Bush as a President unable to live up to the responsibilities to which he aspired. Stone falls short of expressing outright sympathy, but by the end of the film, Bush is a sympathetic, if not tragic figure. If you watch this movie expecting Stone to deliver a raging indictment of George W. Bush, you will be a little disappointed. Popular protests and satire portray Bush as an inherently bad man or power-hungry buffoon. Stone relies on a more subtle criticism, and it plays much better than one would expect.

W. follows Bush’s life through two separate periods. The first encompasses most of his adulthood, from Yale to the Governorship of Texas, the second focusing on the meetings and details leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. These stories are told in alternating bursts, short encapsulations of events that feel more like anecdotes than biographical narrative.

Josh Brolin’s George W. Bush resembles a gregarious 18-year-old with attention deficit disorder and a slightly above-average knowledge of world affairs. Fair or not, it is a precisely acted caricature. Brolin’s spectacular performance matches the tone of the film: a wry, irreverent caricature that certainly resembles real life. The question is to what degree they are alike.
At times the caricatures are ridiculous; one scene suggests that the Willie Horton television ad of the 1988 campaign was masterminded by George W. Bush and Karl Rove. Scenes like this tend to discredit the film, and while Stone was probably just trying to better encompass the ’88 campaign, to suggest that the famous ad was snuck into Bush 41’s office by Karl Rove and George W. is preposterous.

Still, there are many scenes and episodes that are dead on, and it is crucial to remember that some of the most outrageous lines spoken by Brolin are pulled from Bush’s most famous gaffes. Many of these scenes are a mix of accuracy. Notably, a scene depicts Bush leading his advisers on the country roads of his ranch. Stone scores the scene with a decades-old song, “Robin Hood” by Carl Sigman. Stone’s tongue has poked a hole through his cheek as we watch the blind leading the blind … and Colin Powell of course.

Powell is the placeholder for any and all dissent within the cabinet. In the scenes leading up to the invasion of Iraq, Powell is the only character who doesn’t seem ripped straight from the war room in Dr. Strangelove. His nemesis is Vice-President Dick Cheney, played by Richard Dreyfuss, who gives his best impersonation of Emperor Palpatine.

These caricatures are alright if viewed with the understanding that this film is exactly that, a version of history. And Stone is exempt for criticism in this regard because he never claims that his film is documentary. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Stone said that some scenes were based partially on fact and partially on what he thought would happen. This is George W. Bush through the prism of a man who donated to both of his Presidential opponents. In fact, given my expectations heading into the film, I have some respect for Stone as he gives a story of a well meaning but disastrously misguided man. It is contemptuous, but there is  more than outright contempt.

If the movie is flawed, it is in its episodic structure. George W. Bush is not a well developed character, but a series of anecdotes and caricatures. Absent is the insightful character development of other biographies like Malcolm X or Gandhi (I know, setting the bar kind of high here).

While W. entertains, don’t expect to be blown away. It’s worth a couple hours on a Friday night (or Tuesday morning depending on your employment situation).