Review of W. (2008) by Doug B — 30 Jul 2009

One thing this film has in it's favour is attention to detail, the sublime casting is one thing it's got right; all round though, there's not much here to get excited about. There are moments of fleeting genius, but the film film tells us very little that we don't already know, or haven't been complaining about for years.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable, it just would have been nice to have a slightly less objective view of Bush; the film needs an angle and the ending feels completely rushed and underdeveloped (obviously due to to the hurried release plan for the end of Bush's presidency).

One would think that this film should have been made in 2006, the impact would have been much greater, and speculation on where the Bush presidency was going next would have been interesting, whether it was accurate or not.

The film also bumps over several key points in Bushes' Presidency including the banning of stem cell research, overturning the supreme courts' ruling on Iraq prisoners and Muntadar al-Zaidi's shoe throwing incident, not only that but the aftermath of the war should have been more of a chief focus.

All that aside the humane and brilliantly subtle Josh Brolin brings gravity and meticulous characteristics, not once over doing it, creating a humane and frankly, likeable Bush, which carries most of the film.