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My W and Oliver Stone's
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Sidney Ray Baldwin/Lionsgate
At times, Brolin’s Bush comes across borderline village idiot. “Iran is not Iraq, and Iraq is not Iran. I know that much,” W declares at one point to his assembled war council. In a press conference, he refers to a journalist of Asian ethnicity as “Miss China.” The George W. Bush I know is no rocket scientist (as he’d be the first to admit), but he’s no simpleton either.
Stone also exaggerates in painting Bush as a simple-minded born-again Christian. President Bush is a man of deep personal faith who may have felt a calling to enter politics, but he never came across to me as presuming to know God’s will. Nor does he consider himself an evangelical Christian or fundamentalist Baptist (though along with Rove he placed a high priority on keeping that wing of the Republican base happy).
I also felt it was grossly unfair to portray Bush as merrily oblivious and somewhat smug when visiting wounded soldiers at a military hospital. Having been at President Bush’s side during such visits, I know they were somber, emotionally-draining moments for him. They were also probably the only time I ever noticed self-doubt creep into his eyes, however fleetingly, as he confronted the terrible human costs of his misguided, instinctive decision to rush into an unnecessary war.
But W. is a drama, not an historical documentary. Stone tries to play it fairly straight. Even if he misses the mark at times, he deserves credit for the glimpses of inner truth he provides, which can only be instructive, especially as we prepare to elect a new president.
My guess is the most vocal Bush critics will view Stone’s account as too soft on Bush and his top advisers, while Bush’s chief advocates will ignore and dismiss it. But I think the average Joe just might find it entertaining and thought-provoking. I won’t go as far as to borrow a line from Bush 43 and say, “Heck of a job, Stonie.” But I will borrow one from Bush 41 and say, “It’s good, not bad.”
Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary and author of the No. 1 New York Times best-seller What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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kagua2
The ads for the movie have me cracking up. I told a friend today that Bush will go down in history as the most unpopular president ever. I plan on seeing it wearing my "Obama '08" T shirt.
theblender
Who'd a thought, truth from a WH Press Secretary for 43? Is it?
sophielago
the half dozen reviews I've just read leave me wondering if Oliver Stone understands the lasting effects of starting to drink at an early age. Typically, the alcohol abuser gets emotionally "stuck" at the age when the abuse started, and that can last for a long time, during and after recovery. Of course, it doesn't seem that W. ever went in to a recovery program, and so much of his behavior is that of a cocky adolescent. That seems to me to be at least as important as the father relationship.
milkbone
I lost my copy of JHK so maybe i'll wait for netflix.I'm hopeing the next great biography will be "O"
sandman
roooth
Scottie, you're like a man who thought he was mute and who has suddenly discovered that he can not only speak, but he can sing beautifully.
Your whole face has changed since you woke up from your time in Purgatory. You went from every muscle in your face looking clenched and pasty to looking relaxed, healthy and even happy.
Telling the truth is so liberating, isn't it?
GlobalGramma
While Bush might not be a simpleton in the literal sense of the word, his conduct has been. His intellectual laziness, incapacity or unwillingness to engage in complex thought or to demand any kind of personal rigor have securely left the nation at the direction and under the complete control of Cheney.
Ruthless Cheney. Puppet Bush. Now for the aftermath...and whatever clean-up is even possible.
I can only hope that history will document who has been the acting President during the two terms of the Administration and that it will take them both fully to account.
It's difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a worse President than George W / Cheney have been at every level of functioning. Nothing, absolutely redeeming. An unjustified, pre-emptive war that was unrelated to the causes of 9/11, that has intensified terrorism, that was sold with lies, which has left Iran the dominant power in the Middle East and Al Qaeda rising in Afganistan. Torture. Blatant and wholesale selling off of government functioning to the highest bidder. And the capstone: an economic meltdown, with 53 trillion in unmet liabilities waiting to bury us all and swallow the future whole.
But the wealthiest of the wealthy had their tax breaks ... and they pandered to the Christian base, so what the hell!
zerlenga
the tragedy that we americans elected Bush. and the brutal ignorance about the lethal nature of islam before 9/11 is it not only of Bush. let see if the daily beast has the courage to write about the despicable regime of saudi arabia.
mike157
I can hardly wait to see how OS portrays the current democratic congress in his next movie. What? A 15% approval rating is not low enough to make them worthy subject matter. Unfair!
cstuple
Is everyone on this thread on Obama's campaign team? ...you're all singing the same talking points I hear on MSNBC every day. How about some original thoughts for a change?
Johnnorth
I know what cstuple means about the thread but I've found Beast more "fair and balanced" than the hysterical MSNBC. Loved McCain's line at the Al Smith roast about the padded cell that will be needed, if he wins after all, for over-the-top Olberman
shieldvulf
Ah, cstuple! Just because Republicans can't agree on anything anymore doesn't mean the rest of us can't move into the future in enlightened comity! Y'all go on with your cartoonish bellyaching, but please try to keep the noise down, OK? The grownups are busy restoring America's promise.
And, btw, why is it that those who complain about MSNBC being extreme never cite anything statement in particular? Is it because their problem is with the startling extremity of fact and reason? I know how upsetting clarity can be when one is used to wallowing in the mud.
Oh, and I'm always happy to see Mr. McClellan doing honest work. I thought then he was used and lied to when at the White House. No one could have said such things with such a straight face unless he believed they were true.
Nice review, too!
Baldirg
There is no mystery as to why Oliver Stone is releasing his politically motivated film at this juncture. In Hollywood, timing is everything. The intent is transparent.
WhimsicalLagniappe
Wow. . .candor. . .what a novel idea!
I must admit. I love President George W. Bush. I mean by-golly, I voted for him. . .twice! He reminds me of all the Daddy's that would come by the sorority house when I was in college at Ole Miss. They were the well dressed old money Delta Dad's that would swoop into Oxford, take all your friends to dinner, make ya mint juleps in The Grove and talk out their rear ends about business, politics and the stock market (all subjects that not a one has much proficiency).
But. . .I digress. I voted for The Pres because. . .well. . .I would like to have a beer (or mint julep) with the guy. Intellectual accumen be darned. Just like those well dressed Daddy's that still call their wive's "darlin'," who took us to nice dinners and bought us bourbon, I liked him. I trusted him. He got my vote.
Shame on me.
Lesson learned. I still would love to have a beer with the guy, but for my next presidential ballot, I think I will casting my vote for someone with a bit less charm and gumption and a bit more discernment.
ahgandhi2
look forward to this one..
TexanJane
Hey Scott, I saw your mom the other day at the vet's and told her I was proud of what you (finally) did, coming clean on Bush. She beamed with pride at my praise.
I was sorry later that I hadn't then asked her if she's come back from the Dark Side.
Great review here. You're redeeming yourself everyday.
Thank you.
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