“W”: Should we feel sorry for George, Jr.?
| 17 October 2008
Days after I saw it, I still do not quite know what to make of Oliver Stone’s “W”. The movie is being released three months before George W. Bush leaves office in the middle of the worst economic crisis this country has seen since the Great Depression. A crisis created, in part, by our continuing war in Iraq, the credit meltdown and Bush’s own call right after 9-11 to go out and shop, shop, shop beyond our means because that was our patriotic duty. It’s a crisis that weighs upon this film like the proverbial albatross: we know, walking in, that the story is far from over and that Bush’s and his cronies’ legacy will live, alas, for decades to come.
And yet, I was utterly fascinated by “W”, thanks in great part to Josh Brolin’s performance as Dubya. Brolin goes beyond merely impersonating Bush: he becomes Bush. He tries to convey an understanding of what makes this man tick, his weaknesses, his limited vision. He turns Bush into a flawed and somewhat sympathetic character.
He gives credibility to Stone’s and scriptwriter Stanley Weiser’s argument that our current president was suffering from some deep inferiority complex -- and even jealousy -- given Daddy George’s preference for younger brother Jeb. According to Stone, it was Bush’s insecurity which led us to this mess. But Brolin prefers to dig deeper into Bush Jr’s. psyche.
“W” does not follow a lineal structure. It opens with Bush standing in the middle of an empty ballpark listening (in his imagination?) to the roar and applause of an invisible public and ends very much the same way as the applause fades to silence. In between those bookends, “W” jumps back and forth between Bush’s first four years in office and the road that led him there: drunken partying at Yale; failing at every single job Father George secured for him; running for Congress and losing; becoming owner of the Texas Rangers; defeating his demons and finding comfort in the arms of the Lord; running for governor of Texas and trouncing Anne Richards; and, finally, winning the 2000 U.S. Presidential election. But no matter what he did, George Jr. could not win his father’s love and approval.
And then came 9-11, and subsequently Iraq. The scenes between Bush and his cabinet in the Oval Office, in the war room or in Bush’s Texas ranch veer from straight caricature to dark satire. The setting and lighting scheme sometimes imitates and directly references Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”.
Richard Dreyfuss is right on the money in these scenes with his quiet, Machiavellian and eerily rational take on Vice President Dick Cheney. And in Jeffrey Wright’s hands, Colin Powell becomes a troubled figure: a man who even though he sees the perils lying ahead for the country if they invade Iraq decides to, like the true soldier that he is, obey his commander-in-chief. The consequences, as we know now, were disastrous for the one man who could have truly rescued Bush out of this quagmire.
As Condoleeza Rice, Thandie Newton is far less convincing, succumbing to the worst of caricatures. And the always brilliant Toby Jones is sadly underused in the pivotal role of Karl Rove.
Surprisingly enough, Oliver Stone did not succumb to the stylistical excesses which make most of his films unbearable (“Alexander”, anyone?). He uses some slow motion in key scenes and he still has a tin ear when it comes to using certain songs to underline key dramatic moments. And a nightmare sequence involving George H.W. Bush is really out of place in this sedate, fascinating and rather unique film. It will not change my mind about our current president (frankly, the sooner we vote him out of office the better), but it’s a singular addition to the ever growing literature on his reign.
CAFE'S RATING SYSTEM:
FOUR SHOTS: The perfect brew
THREE SHOTS: A decent brew
TWO SHOTS: A weak brew
ONE SHOT: Tastes like tar
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