Review of W. (2008) by Aramide O — 22 May 2012
Somehow recasts the run-of-the-mill biopic, all melodramatic mission statements and artificial tension, as something a bit more fertile and interesting than I've ever imagined it. Oliver Stone is goofy and overly excitable, but I think that works to his advantage here, where the topic is so screamingly inane and hoarse that anything he did would be subtle and thoughtful.
It also doesn't hurt that he has a talented and hard-working cast -- Brolin in particular is astonishing; Cromwell and Dreyfuss are great; the only weakness, I think, might be Wright over-acting his Colin Powell role, which only hurts two scenes.
W has a problematic screenplay, though; its jagged, unusual narrative -- Bush's hard-drinking Yale days next to his 2005 brush clearing; his shrewdly religious days next to his 2007 peanut choking -- seems like just a disguise (and a confusing and ineffective one anyway) for the dumb ordinariness of the central drama.
This review of W. (2008) was written by Aramide O on 22 May 2012.
W. has generally received mixed reviews.
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