Susan Granger’s review of “W” (Lionsgate)
The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction %u2013 with the current financial fiasco, the crumbling infrastructure of the health-care system, 150,000 troops in Iraq and 33,000 in Afghanistan – so he’s an easy target for provocateur Oliver Stone. Written by Stanley Weiser and directed by Stone, there is, unfortunately, no insight into the causes of our current crises because – unlike “Nixon” and “JFK” – Stone does not have the benefit of historical perspective – with Dubya still in the White House. The docudrama is episodic in structure and surprisingly tentative in tone, beginning with George W’s privileged background, frat-boy days at Yale, career-choice screw-ups, struggles with sobriety and overriding psychological problems, spurred by his father’s obvious preference for his younger son, Jeb. Yet Jeff Brolin’s embodiment of Dubya is uncannily convincing, as is James Cromwell’s elegant, reserved impersonation of his patrician father, George Sr., the 41st President of the United States. Elizabeth Banks is sweetly sensitive as Laura Bush, particularly contrasted with Ellen Burstyn’s brashness as Barbara Bush. One must credit Stone for impeccable caricatures, continuing with Richard Dreyfuss as manipulative Dick Cheney, Toby Jones as insidious Karl Rove, Jeffrey Wright as cautious Colin Powell, Scott Glenn as double-talking Donald Rumsfeld, Thandie Newton as ever-cooperative Condoleezza Rice and Stacy Keach as evangelical preacher Earle Hudd. Dramatically, the strongest part is the father/son conflict and the weakest link is George W’s midlife religious conversion with a messianic zeal that baffles his old-school Episcopalian father. The judiciously placed “Robin Hood” theme, “Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic” are evocative touches. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “W” is an empathetic, if oversimplified 7, having been rushed to completion to hit theaters before the November election.
