W. (Theatrical Release USA 2008)

 Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.1|5.0 Starsìììì

W. ties together generally known information about George W. Bush without really revealing anything new. The conference room scenes seem intent on labeling his war as an oil war which moves the film’s script into a bias viewpoint that makes the movie more difficult to critique. Many of the actors seem uncomfortable or out-of-place with their assigned characters and do not follow the close physical resemblance that has marked most modern movies that deal with actual people. The exceptions are: Richard Dreyfuss as Vice President Dick Cheney, Jeffery Wright as Colin Powell, and Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice. It is worth one watch, but runs shallowly rather than giving something new or plumbing the depths of what drives George W. Bush.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

An interpretation of George W. Bush’s life as an adult and into his presidential election.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Oliver Stone for directing effort. Thank you to Executive Producers Teresa Cheung, Elliot Ferwerda, Peter D. Graves, Johnny Hon, Christopher Mapp, Tom Ortenberg, Thomas Sterchi, Matthew Street, David Whealy, Albert Yeung, and Mark Brooke for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: George W. Bush (Josh Brolin), Speechwriter #1 (Colin Hanks), Karl Rove (Toby Jones), Paul Wolfowitz (Dennis Boutsikaris), Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), and George Tenet (Bruce McGill), George H.W. Bush (James Cromwell), and Oil Worker (Juan Gabriel Pareja).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. One scene that is particularly interesting is the conference room discussion that shows how presidential counselors view a common problem and present a variety of solutions to that problem.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers