Bush not given his due in 'W.'

It’s pretty easy to be skeptical about “W.”

Oliver Stone has directed some good films over the years, but thinking back to “Nixon” and “JFK,” it’s obvious he has directed some very bad ones about United States presidents. And sadly, “W.” is not much different. 

“W.” is most compelling when it focuses on the formative moments for George W. Bush the person and less so when it tries to explain George W. Bush the president.

It always feels weird seeing portrayals of historical figures that we actually have video footage of, but lead actor Josh Brolin does a solid, if cliched version of Dubya.
However, some of Bush’s advisors, including a Dick Cheney played by Richard Dreyfuss and Condoleezza Rice played by Thandie Newton, are done exceptionally well.

The movie hammers you with its central thesis: Bush was mostly motivated by his strained relationship with his father. Bush Sr., played by James Cromwell, makes it clear that he expects his other son Jeb to be the successful one. The first half the film is dominated by lectures from the elder Bush to his drunken, lazy and occasionally womanizing son George W.

Beyond the psychoanalysis of our 43rd president, the film has little depth as a serious political critique. Most of the scenes of Bush as the leader of the free world involve conversations we have probably already imagined. The film makes no effort to examine the motivations of Bush’s advisors, even though they seem to be calling the shots.

The film also makes the mistake of omitting Bush’s 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns (the movie appears to end before the 2004 election).

Examining these campaigns could have been fascinating and might have explained to audiences how a man as stupid and ineffectual as the one portrayed in this movie managed to reach our nation’s highest office, twice.

As offbeat as the film is, “W.” is still enjoyable and rarely boring. Stone keeps the film going as he cuts from Yale frat boys mixing screwdrivers to Bush asking Cheney to remember who the president is.

The whole thing is tied together with some great scenes, involving Bush getting lost in his own sprawling Texas ranch while discussing plans to invade Iraq and another in which Colin Powell asks, with plenty of disdain, why Karl Rove is in a meeting about the war.

Sadly, the film has more style than substance. Bush ends up seeming oversimplified, and given the amount of ripe material that could have been pulled from W’s second term, the film feels incomplete and disappointing. But probably not as disappointing as his presidency.