W.
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Josh Brolin as George W. Bush |
When it was
released in the USA, a lot of critics took a swing at Oliver Stone's
latest film for not sinking the boots into George W. Bush.
And
it is true, that with this biopic, Stone takes a much more restrained
and even handed approach to the man responsible for the War On Terror
that followers of his previous (and almost always, far more strident)
films might have expected.
But with Bush dispatched to
history's dustbin and his henchmen rapidly becoming a bad dream, this
film feels like a much more reasonable take on the man that so recently
inspired so much hate and anger.
That's not to say this is a glowing portrait by any means...
Josh
Brolin as George W Bush gives an amazing performance throughout the
three stages of W's life this in which this film focuses on: His hard-drinking days as a Texas layabout and disappointment to his father (James Cromwell) His newly sober, newly religious days in th late 80s where he's slight less of a disappointment to his father The
days post 9/11 where Bush and his team of henchmen plan out the
invasion of Iraq simply because it's what they want to do.
The
pre-presidential days are informative and mostly straight-forward, with
the only real insight being that W really wanted his dad's love.
It
is the post 9/11 scenes that really bring this film to life, as an
all-star cast (Richard Dreyfuss as Cheney; Scott Glenn as Rumsfeld;
Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell; Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice)
turns this into a mix of a Dr Strangelove black comedy and one of those re-enactments looking inside Hitler's inner circle that SBS are always showing.
It's not enough to make this a great film, or even an memorable one, but it does send the occasional chill down the spine.
3 out
of 5
W.
Australian release: 26th February,
2009
Official
Site: W.
Cast: Josh Brolin, Thandie Newton, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, Ioan Gruffudd, James Cromwell
Director: Oliver Stone
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