W. (film)

For the 1974 suspense film, see W (1974 film).

W.
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Oliver Stone
Produced by	Moritz Borman Jon Kilik Bill Block Paul Hanson Eric Kopeloff
Written by	Stanley Weiser
Starring	Josh Brolin Elizabeth Banks James Cromwell Ellen Burstyn Richard Dreyfuss Toby Jones Thandie Newton Jeffrey Wright Scott Glenn Bruce McGill Jennifer Sipes Noah Wyle Ioan Gruffudd
Music by	Paul Cantelon
Cinematography	Phedon Papamichael Jr.
Editing by	Julie Monroe Joe Hutshing Alexis Chavez
Studio	Global Entertainment Group QED International Emperor Motion Pictures Millbrook Pictures Onda Entertainment
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date(s)	October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16) (Austin Film Festival) October 17, 2008 (2008-10-17)
Running time	129 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25.1 million
Box office	$29,506,464[1]

W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott Glenn, and Richard Dreyfuss. Filming began on May 12, 2008, in Louisiana and the film was released on October 17.^[2]

Plot

In 1966, George W. Bush (Brolin) endures an alcohol-fueled initiation by fellow Yale students as a Delta Kappa Epsilon pledge. During the hazing, Bush successfully recalls the names and nicknames of many of the fraternity members, and states that his family's political legacy is one in which he has no interest. A little later, after the younger Bush is jailed in New Jersey for rowdiness following a football game, his father, Texas Congressman George H.W. Bush (James Cromwell), states that he will help his son, but for the last time. Following graduation from Yale, Bush takes a job at an oil patch back in his native Texas, but he quits after only a few weeks. Soon after, he is accepted into Harvard Business School with the help of his father. Later that night after drinking heavily, he crashes his car into the family estate and challenges his father to a fistfight. Shortly afterward, "Junior" reveals his real aspirations in a father-son talk: working in professional baseball, in some capacity.

In 1977, Bush announces he will run for Congress in Texas. At a barbecue, Bush meets Laura Welch (Elizabeth Banks), his future wife. During the congressional debate, Bush is criticized by his opponent, Democrat Kent Hance (Paul Rae), who says that Bush is not a "real Texan" and has spent campaign contributions to throw an alcohol-fueled party for underage Texas Tech University students. Bush does poorly in the debate and loses the election, but with the highest number of votes for a Republican candidate in the state's history. Angered by the loss, he declares that he'll "never be out-Texas'd or out-Christianed again".

After turning 40 in 1986, Bush becomes a born-again Christian, gives up alcohol, and somewhat mends his relationship with his father. The elder Bush invites him to assist with his successful 1988 presidential campaign, though the younger Bush suspects that he only was asked because his brother Jeb was busy. Bush's political advisor, Karl Rove (Toby Jones), tells him that he has the potential to make a name for himself, but has not yet done anything with his life. Bush becomes the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team while his father oversees the victory of the 1991 Gulf War. Allied forces win the war in 100 hours, but the elder Bush decides not to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. When his father loses the 1992 election, Bush blames the loss on the decision not to depose Hussein.

Bush decides to run for Governor of Texas despite his parents' opposition. An election win prompts a successful presidential bid in 2000. Following the September 11 attacks, Bush plans a war with Iraq, and labels America's enemies — specifically Iraq, North Korea, and Iran — the "axis of evil". In 2002, Bush begins searching for evidence that Hussein was creating nuclear weapons, and has the army prepared. Bush's staff supports him, with the exception of Secretary of State Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), who says that invading Iraq would destabilize the country. Powell is generally overruled by Vice President Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss) and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), who insist that the war — deliberately waged without an exit strategy — would secure the U.S.' status as sole global superpower while spreading democracy throughout the Middle East.

In his 2003 State of the Union Address, Bush states that "Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists." In March 2003, the U.S. invades Iraq and, at first, the war appears to be a success, and Bush gives his infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech on an aircraft carrier. When it becomes clear that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush learns that the responsibility for finding them had been relegated far down the chain of command. Bush also discovers that Saddam Hussein gambled his regime and his life on the assumption that Bush was bluffing. Bush is asked in a press conference what mistakes he made as President, a question that leaves him flustered and speechless.

That night, Bush has a nightmare in which his father accuses him of ruining the Bush legacy, which he claims was intended for Jeb. Later, he dreams of playing center field in a baseball game. A pop fly is hit in his direction. As Bush attempts to catch the ball, it disappears.

Cast

• Josh Brolin as George W. Bush: Stone's original idea for the main role was to propose it to Harrison Ford, whom he said had "a pretty similar face as of George Bush". Stone then cast Christian Bale, who spent months researching for the role, but dropped out after he was not satisfied with the prosthetic makeup tests. Stone remarked, "Christian’s a very methodical actor and he has to have the makeup thing work for him."^[3] Brolin, cast at the "last minute",^[3] spent months working on Bush's distinctive vocal style, calling hotels in Texas and talking to the people at the front desk, listening to their accents. The actor also watched videos of Bush walking. Brolin said, "It changes over the years, how he walks in his 30s, how he walks in foreign lands, before 9/11 and afterward. People hold their emotions in their bodies. They can't fake it. Especially him."^[4]
• Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush: Banks said she would not do an impression of the First Lady. "I just want to honor her voice, her stillness, and her hairstyle".^[4]
• James Cromwell as George H. W. Bush
• Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush
• Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney: Stone was interested in Robert Duvall as Cheney, but Duvall turned down the role.^[5]
• Jeffrey Wright as U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell
• Scott Glenn as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
• Thandie Newton as U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
• Toby Jones as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove
• Bruce McGill as Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet
• Ioan Gruffudd as British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Much of Gruffudd's intended scene was cut. The scene depicted Blair revealing his intentions to convert to Catholicism, and his desire to give the United Nations and British and US allies more time and greater involvement before the Iraq invasion.
• Noah Wyle as U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans
• Rob Corddry as White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
• Dennis Boutsikaris as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
• Randall Newsome as Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority
• Jason Ritter as Jeb Bush
• Michael Gaston as General Tommy Franks
• Tom Kemp as David Kay
• Paul Rae as Congressman Kent Hance
• Stacy Keach as Earle Hudd, Bush's pastor and spiritual advisor. Earle Hudd is a composite of several religious figures influential in Bush's life, including Billy Graham, James Robison, C. Lane Boyd, Kirbyjon Caldwell, Mark Craig, Tony Evans, T. D. Jakes, and Ed Young.^[6][7]
• Jesse Bradford as Thatcher, Bush's college buddy
• Marley Shelton as Fran, one of Bush's girlfriends
• Anne Pressly as Anchorwoman
• Sayed Badreya as Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq
• William Chan as Hospital Doctor
• Teresa Cheung as Miss China
• Colin Hanks as David Frum^[8]
• Bryan Massey as Skeeter

Originally, the Hong Kong actress Gillian Chung (from the band Twins) also appeared in a cameo. However, since the Edison Chen photo scandal incident happened before it released on the theater, her acting scenes were completely removed.

Production

"I want a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from. It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be President of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq. It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors."

Oliver Stone^[9]

W was Oliver Stone's third film in a trilogy he made about the Presidency, set in the time from the 1960s to today: the set began with JFK and continued with Nixon. Originally, he was attached to direct Pinkville, a film about the Army's investigation of the My Lai Massacre, but development was canceled due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and actor Bruce Willis pulling out of the film three weeks before shooting was set to start.^[4] As a result, United Artists shut the production down. Stone moved on to direct a film about the life and presidency of George W. Bush, shopping a script that had been written before the strike by Stanley Weiser, who had co-written Wall Street with Stone. Weiser and Stone read 17 books as part of their research for the script,^[10] and worked on the project for a year before venturing to film Pinkville.^[9] Stone has admitted that he and Weiser had to speculate on some dialogue: "You take all the facts and take the spirit of the scene and make it accurate to what you think happened".^[4] W. was financed independently for Stone, with Hong Kong, German, and Australian funds: he tried to approach American studios for money, but got turned down.^[11] Lions Gate Entertainment distributed the film.^[4] Though Stone has criticized Bush for his administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq, the director said that he was not looking to make an "anti-Bush polemic." Stone compared his goal of the film to that of The Queen, wanting to trace "seminal events in Bush's life." According to the director, "It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to Nixon, to give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin. But if Nixon was a symphony, this is more like a chamber piece, and not as dark in tone."^[9] He described the structure of W. as a three-act film starting with Bush as a young man "with a missed life", followed by his transformation and "an assertion of will which was amazingly powerful" as he came out from his father's shadow, and finally his invasion of Iraq.^[12]

The film, originally titled Bush,^[9] was re-titled W.^[13] Filming began on May 12, 2008 in Shreveport, Louisiana,^[2] and completed filming on July 11, 2008.^[14] On May 13, 2008 the New York Post published excerpts from an early draft of the script. The column, written by Cindy Adams, stated “Pro-Bushies will hate it, antis will love it.”^[15]

The film was released on October 17, 2008, before the presidential election.^[2] W. 's producers reportedly ran television spots for the film opposite Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain's ads in the fall of 2008.^[4]

Reception

Critical response

W. received mixed reviews from critics. As of June 29, 2011, Rotten Tomatoes reports 59% of critics giving the film positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 207, with an average score of 6/10.^[16] The website summarized the reviews of the film by calling it "A surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the 43rd American president, W. is fascinating in spots, but merely rudimentary as a whole."^[16] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 56, based on 36 reviews.^[17]

Giving the film four stars in his review, Roger Ebert wrote that it was "fascinating" and praised all the actors, noting that Richard Dreyfuss, in particular, was "not so much a double as an embodiment" of Dick Cheney.^[18] In contrast, Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post called the film "a rushed, wildly uneven, tonally jumbled caricature."^[19] Film critic James Berardinelli negatively compared the film with Saturday Night Live skits, saying of the actors that "None of them are as dead-on as Tina Fey as Sarah Palin."

The Monthly film critic Luke Davies spoke highly of Josh Brolin's performance but criticized Oliver Stone's portrayal of the story, writing "The unexamined life is not worth living; in Stone's interpretation, Bush's life has been worthless. And this makes it hard to get a grip on the film's central character. The fault lies not with Brolin but with the material he's been given. There's no interior exploration. The point, no doubt, is that Stone believes there's nothing to explore; certainly, Bush has learned nothing by the end of the film. But audiences want more, especially in biopics that are critical of their subjects." Davies observed that "when weighed against Stone's body of work, the film comes across as decidedly placid, as if, aware of the contentious subject matter, Stone wanted to make a movie where he couldn't, for once, be accused of generating leftist hysteria." Davies grasped that "the film portrays a man who had no real sense of what government might be: that glorious dream of fairness imagined, for all its flaws, by the founding fathers" but that this is lost in the film's entirety, describing Stone's "canvas [as] too broad, and W is like the highlights reel of one man's powerful life."^[20]

The Bush administration never officially commented on the film. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is portrayed in the film, called the sibling rivalry portrayed in the film "high-grade, unadulterated hooey" and said that Stone's exploration of the family dynamic could have benefited from actual conversations with the Bush family.^[21] Slate Magazine's Timothy Noah, however, noted that "most [of] the film's more ludicrous details" are actually directly taken from non-fiction sources, and argued that the film was too kind to Bush in omitting certain historically recorded dramatic events, most notably Bush's alleged mocking of murderer Karla Faye Tucker, a woman put to death during his tenure of the Texan governorship, to interviewer Tucker Carlson.^[22] However, the incident is disputed by Bush himself, and as such is also unconfirmed. In a March 2010 "Screen Test" interview with The New York Times' Lynne Hirschberg, Josh Brolin claims Bush did in fact watch the film. Brolin said Oliver Stone met with Bill Clinton in China and Clinton told Stone he'd lent his copy of W. to Bush. Apparently, Bush "liked it very much" and "thought there were sad moments."^[23]

The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News named it the eighth best film of 2008,^[24] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times named it on his top 20 list (he did not assign rankings).^[24]

Box office

The film opened #4 behind The Secret Life of Bees, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and Max Payne, respectively with $10,505,668 from 2,030 theaters with a $5,175 average.^[25] The film had a budget of $25.1 million and grossed $25,534,493 in North America, and $3,401,242 internationally.^[26]

References

1. ^ "W. (2008)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=w.htm. Retrieved 2011-7-12. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Fleming, Michael (2008-05-08). "Lionsgate books Oliver Stone's W". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985350.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Larry Carroll (2008-10-15). "What Do Batman And George W. Bush Have In Common? Oliver Stone Explains…". MTV. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/10/15/what-do-batman-and-george-w-bush-have-in-common-oliver-stone-explains/. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Benjamin Svetkey (2008-05-07). "First Look: W., Oliver Stone's Bush Biopic". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20198476,00.html. Retrieved 2008-05-08. 
5. ^ Sperling, Nicole (March 26, 2008). "Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic coming together". Entertainment Weekly. http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/03/george-w-bushs.html. Retrieved 2008-03-28. 
6. ^ "Bush and Earle Hudd - Bible Study Group". Lionsgate. http://www.wthefilm.com/guide/pages/31-Bush-and-Earle-Hudd-Bible-Study-Group.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010. 
7. ^ Bush, George W. (2001). A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House. HarperCollins. pp. 1. ISBN 0-688-17441-8. 
8. ^ url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491/
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Michael Fleming (2008-01-20). "Oliver Stone votes for 'Bush' project". Variety. http://www.variety.com/VR1117979349.html. Retrieved 2008-03-28. 
10. ^ Stephen Galloway, Matthew Belloni (2008-04-07). "Bush biographers mixed on script for Oliver Stone's W.". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080411144227/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i1155cb8195120add876286155ef704a6?pn=1. Retrieved 2008-04-12. 
11. ^ Schuker, Lauren. "A Film on Bush Finds Friends Abroad". Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2008
12. ^ Mike Goodridge (May 30, 2008). "Interview: Oliver Stone". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20080628025118/http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=39249&Category=. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
13. ^ Fleming, Michael (March 26, 2008). "Oliver Stone casts parents of W". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982971.html?categoryId=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2008-03-27. 
14. ^ "Brolin, Wright arrested in pub fight". Variety. 2008-07-13. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988852.html. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 
15. ^ Cindy Adams (May 13, 2008). "Film Has A Few Words About Our President". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/05132008/gossip/cindy/film_has_a_few_words_about_our_president_110584.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "W. Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/w_2008/. Retrieved 2011-6-29. 
17. ^ "W. (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/w. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
18. ^ Roger Ebert (2008-10-15). "W.". rogerebert.com. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081015/REVIEWS/810150285. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
19. ^ Ann Hornaday (2008-10-17). "'W': Mission Not Accomplished". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/16/ST2008101601746.html?sid=ST2008101601746. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
20. ^ Luke Davies. "Big Thoughts, Empire Burlesque: Oliver Stone's "W"". The Monthly. http://www.themonthly.com.au/film-luke-davies-big-thoughts-empire-burlesque-oliver-stone-s-039w039-1341?page=0%2C1. 
21. ^ "Jeb Bush calls 'W' movie 'Hooey'". Washington Times. Friday, October 17, 2008. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/17/jeb-bush-on-w-movie-high-grade-hooey/. Retrieved 2008-10-20. ""The Oedipal rivalry is high-grade, unadulterated hooey," former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told The Washington Times." 
22. ^ Noah, Timothy (Friday, October 17, 2008). "Dubya, Stoned.". Slate Magazine. http://www.slate.com/id/2202341/. Retrieved 2008-10-20. 
23. ^ The New York Times. http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/03/10/t-magazine/1247467309813/screen-test-josh-brolin.html. 
24. ^ ^{a b} "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 11, 2009. 
25. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results from 10/17 to 10/19". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2008&wknd=42&p=.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-20. 
26. ^ "Box Office/Business for W. (2008)". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491/business. 

External links

• Official website
• The Official Filmss Guide
• W. at the Internet Movie Database
• W. at AllRovi
• W. at Rotten Tomatoes
• W. at Box Office Mojo