Movie Review "W"

First, let's be clear on a couple things. Number one is that I lean to the Republican side and I figured going to see this was going to be tantamount to seeing a Micheal Moore documentary. All the previews portrayed our 43rd President as some sort of doofus that could not put a couple of sentences together without saying something stupid.

Im not going to argue the merits of "dubya's" merits as our commander in chief. I am just going to review the movie. The tricky thing about this movie is trying to determine what's fact and fiction. The director, Oliver Stone is an incredible talent, but he has a way of bending things in his movies to suit his political tastes.

For example, if you saw "JFK" or "Nixon," you would understand quite clearly that Stone believed that Kennedy's assassination was a conspiracy and that Richard Nixon was a profane, egotistical man hellbent on crushing all comers. I could argue on each point if I wanted to, but most people don't know enough facts about either situation, so the rule of "it was on TV, it must be true" comes in.

Oliver Stone is one of my favorite directors. Platoon is so powerful....Wall Street was slick and smart. JFK is such a smart movie with so much to digest, it takes three or four viewings for it all to sink in. Natural Born Killers is one of the best examples of satire that has ever been put on screen. Born on the Fourth of July will make your heart heavy for days. Now, Stone set his sights on George Walker Bush. **By the way, it's no coincidence this movie came out just about a month before the election**

"W" was a surprise. This movie was a pretty fair view of how "dubya" was brought up and the ups and downs he had before he got into politics. Stone takes time to illustrate that "dubya" fought alcoholism in his 20's and 30's and shows respect when he later became a born again Christian as well. Josh Brolin does a fantastic job. I really think he should get some love come Oscar time. He really nails the mannerism's and the Texas accent really well. The rest of the cast is just window dressing really.

The movie slips back and forth from "dubya's" struggle up the political ladder. His porous relationship with his father, and the love story with Laura, who is played by Elizabeth Banks. I think Banks is pretty good in everything, so their scenes seem natural. While the story of how this man became President is interesting to a point, it drags too long whenever George Sr. comes into the picture.

The details in this movie is what makes it worthwhile to see. As the history of "dubya" is being told, the audience is also privy to what was happening behind the scenes shortly before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. I must admit, I thought we just decided to go in there and kick the crap out of them and that was it, but the Bush administration really believed the "WMD's" existed in Iraq and that they were working with Al Qaida. The truth is that for all the hype the CIA and the rest of the US Intelligence Agencies (Homeland Security, NSA, FBI) get, the fact is that they had bad information. Add bad information to a an administration nervous about 9/11 occurring all over again...and taddah.....we invade Iraq....the rest is history.

If you are interested in seeing "W" get blasted for two hours, you will be disappointed. If you expect a ton of funny moments, you will be again, disappointed. However, if you want to see how a government...and perhaps an entire nation got led down a path due to one screw up after another, then go for it.

There is one scene in particular that really got me. Dick Cheney (played by Richard Dreyfuss) is pointing at a map of the Middle East and although none of "W's" advisors (Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell) have the gall to say it out loud, Cheney illustrates that by controlling Iraq....and setting up shop in the Middle East, this would make the United States stronger and more powerful than ever before. Why, because we have the oil. After Cheney says the obvious, Bush replies that attacking Iraq is about freedom and democracy, not oil. My question is.....Was Bush that naive to think that? We may never know. B+