“DubYa” and Oliver Stone
Dubya, Dubya, Dubya dot Oliver Stone dot com
Given that the U.S. presidential election is right around the corner, we thought it appropriate to present some opinions of the new movie “W.”, by Oliver Stone. Mr. Stone, with scores of films under his belt, has become known as a bit of a trouble maker in the industry, producing such films as, “Nixon”, “JFK”, and “Platoon”. He now turns his lens to a character of more recent history: U.S. President, George W. Bush.
It is interesting to note that many members of the Bush administration, past and present, were approached and asked if they would be willing to watch the movie prior to its official release. Only one agreed to do so: former White House press secratary, Scott McClellan. So, we will start there.
According to Bloomberg.com quoting the Daily Beast, McClellan said, “Stone tries to play it fairly straight,” continuing with, ” he deserves credit for the glimpses of inner truth he provides,” and summing everything up with, “Good, not bad.”
csmonitor.com is not as kind as McClellan, saying, “Supposedly based on extensive research, ‘W.’ offers up not a single new insight into Bush or his presidency. The film fails even as a piece of agitprop pamphleteering.”
Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal, as read from the Rotten Tomatoes Website, says, “In spite of Josh Brolin’s heroic efforts, ‘W.’ is a skin-deep biopic that revels in its antic shallowness.”
Finally, Todd McCarthy, of Variety.com, muses, “Oliver Stone’s unusual and inescapably interesting ‘W.’ feels like a rough draft of a film it might behoove him to remake in 10 or 15 years.”
In summation, we have the rough sketch of a shallow movie that fails even as bad propoganda and is ultimately, “not bad”. Now Playing: SFS at Lakewood Ranch.
