W.

Oliver Stone is famously known for his period pieces of American history (World Trade Center, Platoon), specifically events surrounding American presidents such as JFK or Nixon. In W. he explores the life of George W. Bush, beginning at his freshman year at Yale all the way to the end of his presidency. The movie holds a few contradictions with history that I will outline, but that aside, I found it to be a surprising portrayal of the man who, at one time held the lowest approval rating in presidential history. Surprising because, all controversy aside, the film shows sympathy towards George Jr. and one could say lets him off the hook to easily.

The film surrounds the complex Bush had with satisfying his father, George Sr. who was also president. It continuously brings up the issues he had with his older brother being the one his father was proud of and perhaps suggests in the end that it was this complex that caused him to proceed and insist on pushing the Iraq war (because George Sr. pulled out of the Gulf War in what W. thought was too early). The film implicitly suggests that the only way W. could make his father proud was to do what his father could not.

It seems outlandish to say, but the film even suggests that it was simply because of W's wish to please his father and be better than his brother Jeb that he became governor of Texas and even President. Outlandish because of what the film accurately reveals Bush to be; an immature, lazy rebel with a free ride because of the prestige of his family name. Bush quits the multiple opportunities that were handed to him though his family and somehow finds a way to find his own niche in the world. He becomes owner of the Texas Rangers with the help of investors that his family knows. As the eyes of his father cause him to doubt his place in the world, his life in politics begin.

Josh Brolin plays Bush and his performance can only be described as mystifying. He proves that he studied Bush's walk, mannerisms and even the piggish way he eats. He shows a rude and egotistical man who shows his human side through his insecurities. Brolin watched hours of Bush clips and phoned random hotels in Texas to get the accent down while studying for the role. It is interesting to note that Christian Bale was initially cast to be Bush but he backed out at the last minute. Personally I don't see how Bale would have pulled it off being so young, but he hasn't ceased to amazine before. Regardless I think Brolin was meant to be. The cast is stacked (Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheyney, Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, James Cromwell as George Sr.). Thandie Newton's performance as Condeleeza Rice was hard for me to put a finger on. I couldn't figure out if it was a horrible job or she was going for something. As everyone else in the film was acting like they've done their homework, I couldn't figure out why she stuck out as if she hadn't done any homework at all. I came to realize that in the film, Rice is portrayed as a sinister sidekick who punches in not alot of lines, but the right ones to swing Bush her way. The other characters are overbearing and obvious in how they convince Bush to go into Iraq (Cheyney with oil, others to get reelected) but Rice seems to chirp her way into his head by convincing him that there were nuclear weopons in Iraq, without actually saying so. Everyone but Colin Powell is the villan in the boardroom, who speaks from his heart, but in the end sides with the majority and addresses the UN against his will in favor of invasion.

As Bush adresses congress to convince them Iraq is the right move, he is reading a teleprompter where every word is finely written by a team of speechwriters. During breaks in the speech the teleprompter woudl read "applause" and at the end of the speech the teleprompter reads "massive applause" as if to suggest that every aspect of convincing the room, and the country was intensely orchestrated according to the team's exact intention.

The theme of God is overarching throughout the film. Between every big event in W's life there is always consultation with his priest or after every big meeting in the White House they always bow in prayer. Overarching it seems because it suggests that every decision Bush made was justified by his belief in God. He states to his priest in the film that he doesn't even want to run for president but God is asking him to. Again when Rice askes him what his father thinks of invading Iraq he says he doesn't care about his father, only his higher father. Bush was criticized for creating or pushing a theocracy in his presidency and meshing church with state in his politics, these examples are the manifestation of those criticisms.

The choice of soundtrack in the film is carefully crafted. As he addresses congress in regards to invading Iraq the famous happy song plays, "It's wonderful world" in ironic fashion. There is a folk song that tells the story of Robin hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor that plays a couple different times in the film as he plans the Iraq invasion. Perhaps this is to say that Bush thinks he is a good guy doing it through criminal means, stealing from the powerful and giving back to the people in Iraq. Or its just meant to be funny calling Bush Robin Hood as a hero is something he surely thought he was, but was not. In the film as you watch pay special attention to other soundtrack choices as they are also interesting.

Historically in the film there are a few discrepancies. During the fraternity hazing scene, a person asked if Bush was legacy, Bush says yes and says his father and grandfather, etc were all delta kappa's. This is not true, his grandfather Prescott was in Zeta Psi. Only Bush Sr. and Jr. were in Delta Kappa Epsilon. It was mentioned in the film that Laura Bush had voted for LBJ. Johnson ran for president only in 1964, on the day that Laura had attained the age of 18. Before the 1972 election the minimum voting age was 21, so she could not have voted before 1968. At several points, real life quotes from George W. Bush are used in very different contexts. For example, "Rarely is the question asked 'Is our children learning?'" is shown being said during his Texas Gubernatorial run, but was actually said in January 2000.

There is one dream sequence that continues to run throughout the film. Bush states that his dream job would be in baseball, but his father tells him he isn't good at it. The dream is Bush continuing to catch fly balls in center field. After each monumental moment in Bush's life he catches a fly ball. However, after it shows the failure of his presidency in finding out that there were no nuclear weapons in Iraq after all, the movie ends with the crack of a baseball and Bush getting ready to catch a ball but it never comes down as he lowers his glove he looks confused followed by the credits. This sums up his presidency and maybe his life, looking up for something big to happen amongst his rise to power, but unfortunately power doesn't always come with success. The fact that the movie ends with this scene further makes the viewer feel sympathy for a man that could have been misunderstood. The famous incident of Bush choking on a pretzel while watching a football game takes place in the film but is given an ambiance that actually makes you concerned instead of something worth mocking or used as a giant joke to the media and variety TV programs that month. In regards to this baseball dream sequence, I'm curious to hear what you think it means.

CONSENSUS:

Rotten Tomatoes give this move a 59% rating

Zoom In Analysis will DISAGREE with this rating because, even though it is not necessarily an important film about an important figure, it attempts to prove a unique portrayal of a man we view so typically as. I would go slightly higher and give it a 6.5/10

Again, I wouldn't say it is an important film to watch. Nor would I say that it's a crucial piece of media for someone studying his life or presidency. However, what does stand out is how the film takes events that the world is familiar with and makes us wonder, as we watch the film and think, "how did this guy, and that happen to that country?" How the hell did this happen? It is an astonishing film that makes you realize how ridiculous it was that the reigns of America were under such an insecure, incompetant man.