Popcorn & a Movie

George W. Bush is a lot of things to a lot of people, but rarely is he viewed as a celebrity. In actuality, he may be more that than anything else…or at least that’s the theory posited by director Oliver Stone and the folks behind W. Whereas previous White House based flicks from Stone center on particular events or crises (Watergate, The Bay of Pigs), W. only loosely weaves in an out of our President’s decision to invade Iraq and instead largely concentrates on his long, bumpy road to being the man that would make such a decision. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and the film covers what it can, but essentially adds up to nothing more than well-packaged, well-presented cliff notes.
But that isn’t really very surprising. What’s really surprising is that the film generally comes across with little to no political agenda. Bush is portrayed as both dimwitted and intelligent, sympathetic and spoiled. He’s never really presented as a competent president, but he’s also never seen as anything really horrible – at worst, he’s a man (perhaps too easily) led astray. All in all, however, Stone looks to portray an evenly unbiased and insightful picture.
It may be an admirable feat for a card-carrying member of Hollywood’s left wing elite, but it also makes for a timid mission statement – ultimately, W. refuses to make a declaration. In attempting to be “fair” (as fair as Oliver Stone can be), the film found its biggest flaw.
Still, a lack of emotional commitment doesn’t stop W. from being entertaining. By concentrating less on the politics and more on the embedded celebrity allure, Stone and writer Stanley Weiser lay the ground for an easily digestible, mildly spiced tabloid. The performances (from Josh Brolin as a gloriously embodied W. to Richard Dreyfuss as a cunningly ambitious Dick Cheney) are strikingly spot-on and engaging, while Stone’s direction is as playful and fun-loving as it’s ever been.
And all of it left me wanting more…more of the story (a good thing) and more in-depth (a bad thing). All in all, W. feels like a film produced too soon. Stone wanted to strike while the iron was hot, while W’s CELEBRITY was still at peak. But in doing so (and rushing his film from conception to production to release at break-neck speeds), he fails to capture the complete picture…the political, national and global legacy.
In the end, his film feels open-ended and incomplete, a hodgepodge of snapshots and memories defined by the idea of a man who never found his calling, and instead found the oval office.