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There are only 2 reasons for seeing
this movie and a lot more for not seeing it. First the two reasons: 1) Josh
Brolin, who in his last 4 films has
done an excellent job in all of them and does the same in this one and 2) the
acting from the rest of the cast.
Some of the many reasons for not seeing this film
are:
If you go to see it expecting Stone to bash Bush he doesn't--he
lets the man do it himself. Yes, there is the 'mission accomplished' and other
incidents but Stone isn't particularly harsh on him.
The camera work is some of the worst I have seen in years. It
jumps all over the place, cuts without rhyme or reason, cuts off faces in
close-ups, etc.
It is too early for a film about his life--maybe 20 years from
now it will be more meaningful but by then others will be doing more meaningful
films about him.
You will learn nothing new and most have lived through his terms
and know what he has said and done.
With the current circumstances the film was finished a few
months too soon.
Stone conjunctures a few things that
are not really backed up--was/is Jeb the elder Bush's favorite? Could W not/never please his father? Did Bush
really say that God made him president so that he would be there to handle
9/11???
With all the drama in the world of the past 8 years and his
terms of president there is very little drama in this movie.
Needless to say there is no ending to the movie because the film
ends in 2004 and the story hasn't ended yet--you are waiting for the rest, or
the end, of the current story.
Stone made a big misstep with this film and not because he
believed in his convictions as he did in "JFK" and "Nixon" right or wrong but
because he doesn't seem to feel one way or another about his subject.
As I said Josh Brolin is proving to be one of our better
(and underrated) young actors and the rest of the cast backs him up. They
include Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, James Cromwell as
the Elder Bush, Richard Dreyfuss as
Dick Cheney, Scott Glenn as Rumsfeld,
Toby Jones as Rove, Stacy Keach as
Earle Hudd and Jeffrey Wright as Colin
Powell. The only one who annoyed me and seemed to be more of a take off then a
real to life portrait is Thandie Newton as Condoleeza Rice.
To give it's due the theatre was more crowded than usual at a
Friday matinee but then that may have been people like myself who were just
curious to see how Stone treated Bush--will be interesting to see how this movie
does--will it make money? With a $30,000,000 budget possibly. Will it be a
success in other ways? No, except possibly for Josh getting an Oscar
nomination!
