W

Oliver Stone, director of JFK and Nixon, has released his newest version of presidential political history, W, a somewhat skewed view of the life and times of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States.

Although the movie takes a somewhat satirical approach to “Dubya’s” life from his college days until the end of his first term, this is definitely not a comedy. Stone is dead-on with the facts, using well documented events and conversations on which to build his screenplay. You get the feeling as you watch the movie that you’ve become that proverbial “fly on the wall” within the Bush family residences and the White House.

Two actors in the movie are perfect matches for their real life counterparts. James Brolin, as George Bush, hits his marks perfectly, especially during the second half of the film. Richard Dreyfuss plays Dick Cheney to absolute perfection in his every scene. The other supporting actors are clearly identifiable as their real life counterparts and handle their parts well, but some of the physical differences make it a bit difficult to mentally visualize them as the actual people involved.

Honorable mention should go to Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, James Cromwell as George H. W. Bush, and Toby Jones as Karl Rove. On the other hand, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, Bruce McGill as George Tenet, and Michael Gaston as General Tommy Franks were unconvincing in their roles. Burstyn and Gaston overplayed their characters, while McGill seemed to just fade into the background even when he was on center stage.

The story begins with George Bush as a C-minus student at Yale, a fraternity brat spending most of his time in college drunk or high. Each time he gets himself in trouble his father manages to call in a few favors or pulls a string or two to bail him out. At one point in the movie George Senior expresses his disappointment about Junior’s performance in National Guard service and his arrests for public intoxication. Junior shows a total lack of appreciation for his acceptance into Harvard after George Senior used his influence as a powerful public figure to secure that opportunity for him.

The movie reenacts Dubya’s only political loss -- his first run for Congress in a small district in north Texas. After that failure, Bush tells his friends that he will change his lifestyle and reputation, making himself appear “even more of a Christian” than his opponents in order to foster support from the southern evangelicals. His life changes dramatically after he marries Laura, becomes the General Partner for the Texas Rangers, and is “born again” with the help of a Baptist preacher (played by Stacy Keach). He runs a dirty campaign against Ann Richards (with Karl Rove’s help) and wins his campaign for Governor of Texas.

Stone has created the character of George Bush as a lazy, underachieving, hard-headed dolt who manages to achieve the most powerful public office in the world thanks to his father’s powerful and influential friends. There is a clearly defined love-hate relationship between the father who loves and tries to protect his son, and the son who feels that he must achieve more than his father and brother Jeb in order to gain the full acceptance of the elder Bush.

The Iraq War is presented as the opportunity and prize that will allow Dubya to finally outdo his father. Feeling that his father was weak by not conquering Iraq and capturing Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War, Dubya focuses on being a successful war president. In spite of warnings by his Cabinet members and their advice that he take a cautious and reasonable approach in dealing with Iraq, Dubya is determined to go to war no matter what -- goaded on by the enthusiastic Dick Cheney.

Colin Powell is portrayed as a thoughtful and reluctant warrior who goes along with his President because of his loyalty and dedication as a soldier. Powell is clearly uncomfortable presenting the “evidence of WMDs in Iraq” to the United Nations, but does it because it is his job and that’s what his Commander-and-Chief wants him to do.

Condoleezza Rice (played by Thandie Newton) is presented as the ultimate “yes-man” -- taking every opportunity to wrap up the consensus of the rest of the Cabinet and the President’s wishes, and then coming up with a comment that makes the final decision look like it was her idea.

My biggest problem with Stone’s screenplay is his use of dream sequences involving a fight between Junior and his father and Bush imagining that he is playing center field for the Texas Rangers.  Those fantasy scenes would have served the story better if they had ended up on the cutting room floor.

After the movie, for a very brief time I actually liked President Bush a little more than I did when I walked in. He actually seemed very human and vulnerable in many ways. Bush could be very focused on some of his priorities in spite of his not being very sharp mentally. The real needs of his country take a backseat to his personal objectives. Bush is a classic “good old boy” who wants to be “the biggest and fastest horse in the barn.” He seems to have achieved that at the nation’s expense.

If you miss it at the theater be sure to catch it uncut on DVD or HBO.

Rated PG-13; 131 minutes; Lionsgate