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Reviews Counted:201
Fresh:120
Rotten:81
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: A surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the 43rd American president, W. is fascinating in spots, but merely rudimentary as a whole.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Feb 26, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $25,517,500
Synopsis: Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director... [More]
Starring: Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks
Director: Oliver Stone
Give W. a W for "wonderful," B for "balance," and A for excellence in those things that add up to terrific filmed entertainment. Brolin's Dubya, Stone's direction, and Weiser's script nail it, with invaluable support from others both above and below-the-l
When historians do assess Bush's presidency, they probably won't consult a film offering more cheap jabs than insight.
W. is a scattershot attempt at stylized portraiture that plays like a half-baked editorial cartoon.
Top CriticIn spite of Josh Brolin's heroic efforts, W. is a skin-deep biopic that revels in its antic shallowness.
Top CriticAlthough clearly not the definitive biography of Bush, W. is absorbing and amusing to ruminate over.
Top CriticThe letter W doesn't stand for 'Walker' in Oliver Stone's film about our current president; it stands for 'Why?'
Ultimately W. feels flat, despite the good work of the cast.
It leaves us with a sense that it has nailed the man and the spirit of those around him and defined the New Millennium tragedy of America in a succinct and dramatic way.
In the end, W. makes up in immediacy what it lacks in objectivity.
Whatever you think of Dubya, he has balls. The movie doesn't.
W. does for recent history what Oliver Stone's epic Alexander did for ancient times.
Had Stone realized he was making Dr. Strangelove, W. might have been an absurdist hoot, but that would require the sort of dramatic choice he stubbornly resists making.
It's Stone's faith in himself that's the stumbling block here, first convinced he has something new to contribute to the already exhaustive Bush-analysis business, and then rushing to get the film out in theaters before the election.
More of a hastily executed charcoal sketch than a portrait, Oliver Stone's W. is nonetheless an often compelling, tragicomic psychological analysis of Dubya, viewed through the prism of his relationship with an allegedly disapproving father.
In the midst of these tumultuous times, in the midst of this tumultuous election, Stone has delivered his most tepid film.
W. is not the hatchet job some may have expected (or hoped for). It is instead a measured and thoughtful meditation on a leader who, this terrific movie believes, inadvertently made the world as roiling as his soul.
Timid, toothless and tepid, this episodic comedy-drama suffers from the one shortcoming I never thought I'd encounter in Stone's work -- failure of nerve.
W. humanizes Bush in ways that will baffle critics of both the president and the filmmaker.
It's certainly a worthwhile curiosity, and it's not what anyone expected. At the movies these days, that alone is worth something.
Perhaps the crucial reason W. succeeds as much as it does is the surprisingly empathetic work of Josh Brolin.
Top Critic
February 09, 2009:
RT on DVD: Oliver's W, Spike's St. Anna, and My Name is Bruce!
What better way to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama by watching Oliver Stone's W. this week on DVD? While a handful of middling studio releases hit home... More...
February 08, 2009:
This Stone-d Bush is a pampered village idiot prop, with Thandie's bubbleheaded Condi stealing the show. And while W's 'just make sure you hit no camels on the ass,' is wild, the movie begs the question, who is responsible? W: The Audacity Of Honing Up. 
More...
February 01, 2009:
This Stone-d Bush is a pampered village idiot prop, with Thandie's bubbleheaded Condi stealing the show. And while W's 'just make sure you hit no camels on the ass,' is wild, the movie begs the question, who is responsible? W: The Audacity Of Honing Up.
More...
November 14, 2008:
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This week in the UK cinema screens we have Kevin Smith's latest, the intuitively titled Zack And Miri Make A Porno. Marky Mark Wahlberg stars in the video game adaptation Max... More...
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