Movie Review: W

Directed by Oliver Stone, "W" surprised me in more than one way. As promoted with clips on television "W" is comedy, I thought I was going to laugh and laugh and laugh some more the way one does at great satire. The first surprise is that it's much more than a comedy, it's also a drama and a biography. It is thought provoking and well acted for the most part. If you are looking to hate the Bushes, W in particular, this is not the movie to see. You won't be laughing out loud and slapping your thigh righteously but you will chuckle and you will think. You will think about politics, the war, trust, and human relationships.

The cast is full of wonderful actors: Josh Brolin as George W Bush; Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush; Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush (she is hilarious in this part); James Cromwell as a very tall George Herbert Walker Bush; Richard Dreyfuss as a spot on Dick Cheney; Jeffrey Wright as General Colin Powell; Stacey Keach as Earl Hudd the pastor that influenced Bush's sobriety; Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice (the one performance that seems so satirical it is distracting); Bruce McGill as George Tenet; Michael Gaston as General Tommy Franks, Noah Wylie as Don Evans; Jason Ritter as Jeb Bush; Scott Glen as Donald Rumsfeld; Ioan Gruffud as Tony Blair; and last but not least Toby Jones as Karl Rove, are the most recognizable characters.

Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ellen Burstyn are stand outs. Burstyn is very funny and seems very real without doing an impersonation. Dreyfuss is as good as he usually is and as beady eyed as possible as Cheney. Brolin is serious, sad, funny and terrific as W. This is not a one dimensional performance just as the movie isn't one dimensional.

We all know George W. Bush's life story by now, so much so that this could have been a boring movie. The oldest son of a high achieving dad drinks too much, parties too much, doesn't like to work and chases skirts as a hobby until one day he meets Laura at a barbecue and falls in love. Laura somehow gets him to go to AA meetings at Earl Hudd's church and George W., who was born and raised Episcopalian/Presbyterian, is born again and gets sober. Following sobriety comes a few achievements like buying the Texas Rangers (baseball being one of his earlier ambitions), and finally getting elected Governor of Texas, and then President. What follows are the movie maker's thoughts and ideas, I don't think there is documentation regarding the elder Bush's feelings about the war for instance, but still it makes for good drama, if not totally factual. They do not dwell on the 2000 election process or the reactions to 9/11. You won't see Bush reading to children that day.

Somehow, someway, the director Oliver Stone, writer Stanley Weiser and Josh Brolin create a surprisingly sympathetic character of almost Shakespearean proportions. I walked away feeling badly for our President. That was my biggest surprise. Not being the sharpest knife in the drawer or the hardest working person, he relied on others too much for counsel. Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld particularly, let him down big time. You know this already, but to see it unfold is remarkable in a way.

Make no mistake. There are light moments. You may chuckle at the fraternity scenes. The 43rd President has funny nicknames for everyone. Number 1 as he calls his mother is particularly amusing. But there are also plenty of touching moments. Meeting Laura is a very sweet scene. His relationship with his father will be recognizable to any son who has ever failed at "measuring up." The filmmakers take dramatic liberties but it's not officially a biography and somehow you won't mind unless you are a real stickler for that kind of thing. The end result is entertaining.

I liked this movie. I was engaged throughout even though I recognized that it wasn't totally accurate. I not only suggest you see this movie on the larger than life big screen, I'm going to suggest you do as I will and see it again when it comes out on disc. It's a good one!