Oliver Stone's "W"



When Oliver Stone's "JFK" came out, I promised to never see another Oliver Stone movie. I never saw "JFK", but by introducing an entire generation to the erroneous multiple assassin theory of Kennedy's death (I'm a convinced Oswald-was-the-single-shooter guy), it seemed to me that Stone had done a tremendous disservice to American history - a crime, really. Stone? - Anathema!

Nevertheless, time tends to heal wounds. Today, I went to see Oliver Stone's "W". Josh Brolin's portrayal is almost a caricature, to the point where it's hard to see why anyone would admire and follow George W. Bush. What a dunderhead Brolin's Bush is! Nevertheless, it's a very good caricature - Brolin becomes Bush after a time, so you have to wonder, is the real George W. Bush really this much of a dunderhead? Maybe he is! But a likable dunderhead, and Stone's portrayal is rather sympathetic to a man out of his depth.

The dialog takes creative use of Bush's public malapropisms and brings them into the settings of private cabinet meetings. Everyone's but Brolin's acting tends to be a bit stilted, so the effect is to give a sense of unreality to events that were very real and very recent. The best acting beside Brolin's Bush was Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney and Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush. Robert Cordrry gets to play Ari Fleischer! I didn't much like Thandie Newton's portrayal of Condoleezza Rice - just a bit too prissy.

No crimes to history here - the real crimes are a result of the actions of the Bush Administration, not Oliver Stone. I give the movie two thumbs up!