‘W.’ Your Pleasure, Dubya Your Fun?
Yesterday afternoon, David and I hung out in Studio City for dinner at Vitello’s and then coffee and magazine perusing at Bookstar on Ventura Blvd. We toyed with the idea of doing something more substantial but we decided to just keep things quiet. Last night we made our way out to the ArcLight in Hollywood, CA to see the new Oliver Stone film W.
People who are expecting to hear that W. is a hatchet job on George W. Bush may be surprised to learn that the film is nothing of the sort. In fact, much of the film is geared towards making GWB a more sympathetic character in that, according to the filmmaker, GWB bumbled his way from job to job to job in order to try and make his father George Bush, Sr. proud of him. Whether or not you agree with the contention, it’s easy to empathize with. That being said, GWB has done enough things in real life both in and out of office to color one’s opinion of the man. I am no GWB fan. But in light of this movie, I can see how he resonated with people to make it to the White House. The movie is really mostly about GWB’s relationship with his father and everything else is extraneous add on to fill out the story. Josh Brolin is SUPERB in this role. His portrayal of GWB is spot-on … right down to his facial expressions, mannerisms and his laugh — he does an amazing job. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with an Academy Award nomination next year. The rest of the cast is just OK … save for Jeffrey Wright who plays Colin Powell, I wasn’t really taken with anyone else’s performance … the actors seemed more like caricatures than actual representations of the real people. Thandie Newton looks exactly like Condaleeza Rice but her attempt to mimic her voice kills her portrayal for me. It’s too cartoony, totally unbelievable. Over all, I enjoyed the film. It’s not really what I expected but it was wholly entertaining. Again, I don’t think that it’s a film that Republicans will generally go for but I think a few Democrats might find that the GWB in this film is a more sympathetic character than they might believe the real GWB to be.
Not sure what plans are for this evening … I think we’ll try to get out and enjoy the amazing (tho hot) weather this weekend. Or, you know, not. As I like to reiterate, David and I love doing absolutely nothing together :)
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October 18th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
My brother is very much against GWB and has been since his first year in office, but he accompanied a group of kids for the Make-A-Wish Foundation to DC to meet the Pres..My brother was so impressed with how cool and likable the guy is in person..He still hates his politics, but said he made time to meet every kid and sign whatever they wanted him to sign even though he minions were pressuring him to leave..He was pleasantly surprised..Sounds like this movie brings a little of that to light..
October 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
IMHO, it’s one thing to make the time to sign autographs for sick children and another to enact policies that have been detrimental to the country. If I got anything from ‘W.’ it’s that GWB looks like he makes a good pal if not a good president.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
That was my brother’s impression as well..
October 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Great title for this post – smart & fun, timely yet retro :)
October 18th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
[...] Original post by It’s Trent, Bitch! [...]
October 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Kendra, I COMPLETELY agree. I have gotten to meet him on two occasions, as I am a (struggling!) journalist. He is very warm and genuine. I’ve met many politicians, and BY FAR he has been the most respectful, polite, considerate, and FAIR. (I won’t even TELL YOU how Obama behaved when cameras weren’t on him, REPULSIVE!–and I’m NOT a republican by the way.) You can ABSOLUTELY not support someone’s politics, and still think they are a good person at heart.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
“Bellevue”, that’s a good point. I consider myself a moderate, and have found there are politicians I whole heartedly DISagree with, but still think they are genuinely good people. Good people can still make mistakes.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Oh, I forgot! That’s RIGHT ON, TRENT! As a film major, it is SO TRUE that when actors play historical figures, they often make the huge error of turning them into caricatures! “Accurate portraying” is better achieved through minimalizing the person’s characteristics, otherwise, exactly as you put it, you end up turning them into a cartoon.
October 18th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I saw it last night as well. The theater I saw it in was packed, which was kinda amazing, as I’m in Oklahoma. There were a couple of walkouts, and a lot of people were disappointed that it wasn’t a comedy like the commercials made it look. Which is a valid criticism of the ad campaign I suppose, but it’s an Oliver Stone movie, I don’t know what they were expecting.
Anyhoo, I didn’t like it that much myself. It wasn’t particularly bad, but nothing I’d see again, and I’m glad I wasn’t the one who paid. The only things that really bothered me about it are just nitpicks, but still, I doubt I’d sit through it again.
Thandie did a good enough job on the voice, it was the weird head bobble and facial expressions that annoyed me. And if you pay attention in the scene where GHW gives him the cufflinks, you’ll see a black & white-ish skyscraper. That’s the Regions Tower in Shreveport, LA. (where the movie was filmed)
October 18th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hey man, excellent review — right on the money! I got to see it yesterday, packed house and all. Josh certainly has W down. Laura Bush is also played compassionately.
This is especially a good one for anyone under 30 to see — just to make narrative sense of how we’ve gotten to where we are today. After all, someone who was ten when W was elected can vote now ;-> (even those who remember most of the real events may learn something — I certainly did).
Cheers!
October 18th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Did you see Josh Brolin on Saturday Night Live tonight? He has GWB down to the wink. I am looking forward to this movie fir sure.
http://underthesheets-shhh.blogspot.com/
October 18th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I’m going to be watching for Michael Gaston who is playing General Tommy Franks. Loved him in Jericho so thought I would give this movie a try. Thanks for the review!
October 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Thanks so much for your GREAT review–it makes me want to see this movie now!
October 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Bellevue – do you have any examples of your encounter with Obama? I’m not trying to disprove you or anything, I’m just interested in your opinion and experience since I haven’t ever been lucky enough to meet a pres/pres candidate.
I did see Obama speak in washington DC at a rally earlier this year and was very impressed, but then again he was in the spotlight in front of thousands of students.
October 29th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
[...] ‘W.’ Your Pleasure, Dubya Your Fun? …that, according to the filmmaker, GWB bumbled his way from job to job to job in order to try and make his father George Bush, Sr. proud of him. [...]