{"id":1248,"date":"2008-10-23T22:20:55","date_gmt":"2008-10-24T02:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2022-10-16T21:21:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T01:21:21","slug":"w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/w\/","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Stone skips over the defining moments of George W. Bush’s life in W."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I had the same issues with Oliver Stone’s W.<\/em> that I do with every biopic. As virtually every feature film biography attempts to do the job of a book, they inevitably fall into the same trap: they become highlights reels that merely illustrate key moments in a real-life figure’s life, spanning decades. With a few exceptions (American Splendor<\/em>, Control<\/a><\/em>), any narrative throughline is impossible; meaning, there is no story<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stone attempts to tie together his fragmented examination of the life of George W. Bush with the theme of his relationship with his father, George H.W. Bush. In this view, Junior both loved and hated his father, and both wanted to impress him and to prevail where he perceived that he failed (it’s clear now even to this staunch pacifist and Democrat that Bush the elder was wise to not extend the first Gulf War into a nationbuilding exercise in Iraq).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Screenwriter Stanley Weiser chooses the conception of the phrase “Axis of Evil” as the starting point, and ends the film with the infamous press conference in which the arrogant Bush was unable to name any mistakes he may have made in office. Stone flashes back many times to Bush’s prior life as a trust fund wastrel, but skips over almost everything that I would define as defining moments: becoming a born again Christian, deciding to run for president, announcing to his staff that they are going to war in Iraq (it’s a matter of record Bush said “Fuck Saddam. We’re taking him out.”) and of course, September 11 itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Oliver
I’m George W. Bush, bitches!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most obvious failure of biopics is that they typically become opportunities for famous actors to do impressions of historical figures. In this case, the subjects are so fresh that many of them are still in office and on television every night now, so the danger is that W.<\/em> could come too close to the easy satire of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, Josh Brolin is excellent as George W. Bush, in a performance that captures many of the man’s peculiar tics but doesn’t come across as a forced caricature. Similarly, Richard Dreyfus is remarkably restrained as Dick Cheney, a role that many other actors would have been tempted to use as an excuse to chew the Oval Office scenery. But unfortunately, Thandiwe Newton (as Condoleezza Rice) struck me as the only cast member doing a forced impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the same issues with Oliver Stone’s W. that I do with every biopic. As virtually every feature film biography attempts to do the job of a book, they inevitably fall into the same trap: they become highlights reels that merely illustrate key moments in a real-life figure’s life, spanning decades. With a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,2],"tags":[661,245,1981,1980,243,659,244,242,246,247],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2-stars","category-movies","tag-661","tag-biopic","tag-condoleezza-rice","tag-dick-cheney","tag-george-w-bush","tag-iraq","tag-john-brolin","tag-oliver-stone","tag-richard-dreyfus","tag-thandiwe-newton"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/oliver-stone-w-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sa9lhB-w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5825,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/when-happens-when-you-tell-the-bush-administration-what-they-dont-want-to-hear-fair-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":1248,"position":0},"title":"When happens when you tell the Bush Administration what they don’t want to hear: Fair Game","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Doug Liman's Fair Game is an important movie. The legacy of the Bush Administration's war on terror comprises many grand injustices: civilian casualties, torture, increased resentment worldwide, eroded civil liberties, et al. In other words, lots of raw material for screenplays. Most treatments of the war on terror in movies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in Fair Game","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fair-game.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fair-game.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fair-game.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fair-game.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fair-game.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1253,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/recount-dvd-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1248,"position":1},"title":"The plural of chad is chad in HBO’s Recount","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2008 HBO television movie Recount dramatizes the traumatic few weeks at the close of the 2000 Presidential election. That hectic time brings back three distinct feelings for this blogger: bewilderment at the founding fathers' purpose for the Electoral College (as everyone no doubt remembers, it was never in doubt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/recount-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/recount-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/recount-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/recount-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/recount-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/alexander\/","url_meta":{"origin":1248,"position":2},"title":"By Zeus’ beard, Oliver Stone’s Alexander is bad","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Ugh. 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Running away and coming back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alexander","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/alexander-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/alexander-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/alexander-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/alexander-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/alexander-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1361,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/ridley-scott-good-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":1248,"position":3},"title":"Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard bake a souffl\u00e9 in Ridley Scott’s A Good Year","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Scott returns to France for the first time since his 1977 feature film debut The Duellists for the fluffy souffl\u00e9 A Good Year. 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Filmmaker David Kleijwegt's You May Need a Murderer could just as well be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"You May Need a Murderer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/low-you-may-need-a-murderer-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/low-you-may-need-a-murderer-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/low-you-may-need-a-murderer-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/low-you-may-need-a-murderer-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/low-you-may-need-a-murderer-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":809,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/im-not-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":1248,"position":5},"title":"Todd Haynes deconstructs Bob Dylan in I’m Not There","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I always find it interesting to ponder my preconceived notions of a movie after I've actually seen it. 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