Film Review: W. (2008)

Josh Brolin Creates a Sympathetic Bush Portrait in Stone's Film

Nov 28, 2008 Rob Humanick

Notoriously controversial director sets politics aside in one of the most important American films of the year. 3.5 stars out of 4.

Despite his being pigeonholed as a filmmaker known exclusively for his affinity for conspiracy theories, the relatively tamed drama of Oliver Stone's pseudo-biopic W. serves as a reminder that, at his core, this most infamously inflammatory of directors is openly conservative in terms of his classically styled storytelling. His more recent output has attempted to distill this narrative approach (echoing John Ford) even further, a trait that, despite hindering his frustrating World Trade Center, proves one employed to perfection in W. Not only as a filmmaker but also as a political theorist, the film finds the filmmaker at the top of his game in terms of stylistic and thematic control, ranking with JFK and Born on the Fourth of July (among others) as one of the director's great films.

Some States are Red...

W. failed financially like so many politically-minded films do, but even on that level it was routinely misinterpreted or lightly written off. It's no surprise, sadly, but it's perhaps a necessary outcome, given Stone's wise decision not to make the film everyone thought he would make/thought they wanted to see. Going effortlessly against hype, Stone rejects the fish-in-a-barrel Bush bashing so common over the past 5 years, one that has shifted from minimal acceptance to overwhelming consensus with an almost routinized steadiness. With humanitarian interests in mind, W. parallels the many stories that circulated during the Presidency of George W. Bush with the behind the scenes news that defined it. In effect, it recalibrates our political consciousness, stripping it of the degenerate Celeb Cult status assigned to it by much of the media. This Bush is a man first, President second.

Beyond the Colors of the Matter

Against all odds, Stone shows us Bush's very soul, or at least his own deeply felt interpretation of it. Much research was done via insider knowledge in making this semi-historical representation as accurate as possible, and none of the embellished material feels out of line; combined with the straight-faced, expositional approach, W. is nothing short of being in total respect to its titular subject. Equally responsible for this profound expose is the unsurpassed Josh Brolin, who delivers what stands not only as one of the finest Bush impersonations yet made (top three, minimum), but also manages to find genuine humanity beneath the easily parodied personality ticks and grammatical mishaps.

In many ways Stone's own take on Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (going to far as to quote that film's most famous image), W. views matters from the personal level of the upper class political elite, an angle that leaves wide open for all to see a number of the inherently, blatantly ridiculous traits of the Bush administration, its members and actions -- political absurdities so often apologized for by the media, frequent to all parties. Knowing Bush's past (his distrust of government, his lack of personal responsibility, the questioned integrity of his Christianity, his being outcast by the Texas vote, and his all-encompassing love of baseball) complicates his future (i.e. our present). The result is the most understatedly epic character study of the past few years.

Time-Capsule Critical

Along with Rachel Getting Married, W. represents the most culturally important American film of the year. Entering a new political era, it is more important than ever to re-evaluate the previous phase of history to find what it taught us. One can objectively say that the Presidency of George W. Bush represented a broad failure of government, much of that failure notwithstanding his actual presence. More deeply than anything he's made before, Oliver Stone's W. transcends politics (though his own distrust of big business remains obvious, itself another importantly complicating factor), the result being a deeply sobering work. When his camera looks into Bush's eyes, he sees more than just the soul of one of history's most inadvertently influential men; he's reflecting on the long, tormented nights of many an American soul. Even Bushie doesn't know what's coming next.

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