Review of W. (2008) by Tim S — 30 Mar 2012

Oliver Stone's W. (pronounced dub-ya) is perhaps one of the most interesting and fascinating movies to come along in a while. A slightly dramatized reality of the Bush dynasty, this film certainly DOES NOT put the man through the ringer, but rather depicts a flawed man who went on to do things that he couldn't possibly comprehend.

Most people will watch this film with their own personal version of George W. Bush in their minds...a mostly negative version. I think what Stone really manages to portray here is the man as is, without real sympathies or skewed views on his politics or even him personally.

Some might disagree with me on that, but I really felt that watching the movie. First of all, Josh Brolin is electrifying, as one would expect. His take on W. is sublime. A true caricature of the then President of the United States, his take is particularly real and always fresh, never tiresome.

Layer upon layer is revealed of his past and Brolin never tires us with boring impressions. He simply portrays a true-to-life character efficiently and with relative ease. The rest of the cast does very well, most notably Ellyn Burstyn as Barbara Bush and Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney.

The story itself holds true to that Godather Part II type of storytelling. The cuts between the past and the present are all pretty seamless and the story is very much grounded in reality (with a bit of dramatization of course).

The film's look is certainly not the look of an Oliver Stone picture, and thank goodness because a story of this type doesn't need any real extreme style to get itself told to an audience. There is actually very little score in the film, and what is there is mostly quiet and unnoticeable.

The soundtrack itself is lively and full of mostly 50's and 70's rock tunes, with a sprinkle of folk songs here and there. I found it more effective than the creeping score itself. As interesting as the film is, however, the editing could have used a few tweeks to get it more polished and streamlined because it does tend to drag in some places.

I rented this on BD, and noticed a considerable amount of grain, particularly in the darker scenes. So it wasn't shot digitally which is no big deal. The film looks nice to me. If you get the chance to do so, watch all of the documentaries and listen to the audio commentary included with both the dvd and BD versions.

They offer more insight into the film and the events surrounding it. This movie certainly won't be for everybody. There is no big spectacle, only storytelling itself. If that isn't your cup of tea, I don't recommend it.

I found it fascinating and would probably watch it again (I watched the film, the documentaries and the commentary all in one go, which I rarely do). It offers new insight into a man most of the world would rather just hate rather than understand.