W

Oliver Stone's W is a surpisingly sympathetic portrayal of his subject, one that I did not expect and find quite compelling. During his younger years, W was wild; in many ways, he was a typical privileged college frat good ole boy from Texas out sowing his wild oats. He plays hard, he drinks hard, and he parties hard, pretty much messing up just about everything he does or tries to do. His college career reminds me of my one brother's misspent years, and I bet the two of them would have been great drinking buddies and, perhaps, good friends. Thank God that both W and my brother lived to outgrow their bad behavior.

When W has his "come to Jesus" meeting with himself after one particularly brutal drinking night, he turns his life around. W still isn't the brightest light in the chandelier, but at least he is sober. He begins to grow up and into himself, a journey we all take at one time or another, and after everything else in his life turns to shit, he buys a baseball team, seems to find himself, and determines that it is God's will that he involve himself in the political arena.

What is most disconcerting about the film are the people with whom W surrounds himself. Condi Rice is made to look like dumb African-American Barbie with black hair and make-up, making inane comments about world affairs and serving as W's secretary, rather than a cabinet-level advisor. Rumsfelt is portrayed as a buffoon, Dick Cheney as a meglomaniac who took lessons from Hitler, and Gen Tommy Franks as a totally ill-informed, piss-poor strategist who didn't have the foggiest idea of what he was doing as he headed the troops into war.

What makes me most sympathetic to W are the obvious distortions, untruths, manipulations, and blatant deceptions by his closest advisors. If Stone's film is even close to the truth of history, Bush should have fired all of them and started over. Bush may have been more easily deceived because he seemed to view this event as a semi-holy war, but there was nothing in the film to indicate that he wanted anything less than honesty from his advisors involved in the decision-making process, and he got everything but honesty from all of them. Except Colin Powell, who is portrayed as a saint, not just the voice of reason, but the oracle of truth, justice, and the American way. Had Colin been the President ... well, let's just leave it at that.

I don't know the sources Stone used in making this film, but the entire plot strains credulity. W's father is portrayed as a cold bastard who mentally and/or emotionally abuses his son, favoring Jeb over W to the extent that the humiliation and belittling become W's motivating force in life. Barbara comes across as a rich bitch far too self-centered and uncaring to offer her son any encouragement, comfort, or support. Laura is, much to my dismay, a typical Texas "stand by my man" character who smiles, looks pretty, and never says a cross or hurtful word.

Josh Brolin is incredible! I simply cannot believe the range this man has with his acting ability. There are times when you will swear that it's the "real W," not an actor, as Brolin is that good. He is matched by Richard Dreyfus, who portrays Cheney to a T, again leaving little doubt that he IS Cheney, not just acting the part. The actor who plays Carl Rove is confusing as Rove comes across as knowledgeable, but syncophantic, rather than professional. It's a strange mixture of adoration and advice, and not a favorable comment on the guy who still shows up on the networks as an "political expert." I'd make him wipe the brown off his nose before I took any advice from him!

I went to this film on a lark, but I'd watch it again in a minute as it's that good. I was prepared to dislike it, having heard that it's a vicious attack on Bush, but it's not. Sure, he comes off as a fool in places, but part of that is possibly from the long-term effects of alcoholism and the rest from simply not being very smart, and relying on his gut, rather than his reason. However, he totally outshines the other characters involved in the plot, none of whom come across in a favorable light.