A review of "W [Theatrical Release]" — 5 weeks ago
W. is a biography of a president who is not only alive, but still in office. Watching the life story of someone as high-profile and still relevant as George W. Bush was strange.
Add in the fact that every significant event of his life was crammed into the two hour film and turned into a dramatic interchange between the main characters and the film just did not seem convincing.
That being said, I was very impressed with Josh Brolin’s performance and I felt that the movie did a good job of not being preachy. In the end, it did not make me feel any more or less sympathetic toward the man (full disclosure: I never voted for W.). There are a slew of books and documentaries already out on the subject and many of them either vilify Bush 43 and a few paint him as a saint. This film does neither.
The character is likable, but not lovable. Still, I felt it was too weird to get emotionally attached to a dramatized modern history lesson, one which has played itself out in the media over the last eight years. This movie offered nothing new to the W’s legacy other than a fabricated account of his issues with his father, his alleged “born again” Christianity and victory over alcoholism. C+, maybe B-
