REVIEW: W.

*Posted December 31, 2008*

I never really wanted to see this movie, but Frost/Nixon left me fascinated with Presidents. I'm in a bind because, as a staunch GOPper, can I convince you that my political leanings had nothing to do with me hating the movie? I could try, but it probably wouldn't work. Still, this movie is a turd, and I'm saying that as a movie fan. Oliver Stone lined up a pretty awesome cast to play the bit parts (and I do mean bit). But the problem with every character except for H.W. is lack of depth. Condi, Dick, Rummy, the genius Karl Rove, Laura Bush, Tony Blair, and W are all cartoon characters (SNL impressions at best). It paints W as a President who thinks with his gut, relies on his faith in God, and is constantly seeking the approval of dear old Dad. H.W. is the dad who is constantly disappointed in his son that acts too much like his wife and not enough like himself (or younger bro Jeb). This movie would've been much more interesting if they had spent 2 hours just on that dynamic. But Stone tries too much from other parts of his life. He spends a lot of time on how to handle Iraq (everyone but Colin Powell thinks it's a good idea), and makes it seem like Cheney and Condi tricked W with the WMD fiasco. The family drama was captivating; the politics was not. Bonus points to Oliver Stone for spending 1 minute on the scene where George chokes on a pretzel while watching football. It didn't really add anything to the story and was completely pointless. He kept that in, but is there even one second in the film where they show how he handled 9/11, the highlight of his Presidency? Absolutely not. The opening scene in the film is Bush in the outfield of an empty stadium, imagining the roar of the crowd for him (instead of the real crowd cheering him on at the World Series). As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't take this film seriously at all. Best line in the movie? George tells Cheney he may be the fastest President in history (with his 6:45 mile). When Cheney asks, "what about Clinton?"

"Hell, my mother can walk faster than that lardass!"

C-