Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
1/4
40%
CJP - wrote on 10/27/2008
Action: 1.5/3 + Comedy: 0.5/2 + Good vs Evil: 0.5/1 + Love/Sex: 0.5/1 + Special Effects: 0/1 + Plot: 0.5/1 + Music: 0.5/1 = 4/10 or 40%.
W. is a rush job and it is far too bland and neutral to be released on the dawn of the 2008 election. Similiar to Nixon, it is a roundabout view of the American Presidency showing what happened to the individual within his personal life as well as what prompted him to rise to power. The acting and portrayal of these real life characters is good, but there is nothing to chew on here and nobody in the cast is capable of the range Hopkins gave Nixon. Overall, it should be likened to watching home movies. Stuff happens, but after a certain amount of time one may realize that they don't know these people and their motivations aren't covered enough to …
Rating of
2.5/4
W stands for why?
goodfellamike - wrote on 10/26/2008
A harmless indictment on the 43rd President, cast to perfection, but too spread out across Bush's life and rarely does it cover anything of interest. We never see his elections, his dealings with 911, or many other issues he dealt with in the White House; it's more concerned with his "daddy issues" and leaves a lot to be desired concerning his dealings in Iraq. RIchard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Thandie Newton as Condoleeza Rice and James Cromwell as Bush Sr. are eerily accurate support for Josh Brolin's charismatic portrayal of W., but it's just not quite enough to sustain our interest for over two hours. A rather unsurprising effort from the usually controversial director Oliver Stone, who provides the viewing audience with a rushed feeling throughout, as if it was just made to get …
Rating of
3/4
Dub-yah
kcvidkid - wrote on 10/22/2008
In my eagerness for Oliver Stone to give us a hilarious endictment of our soon-to-be ex-President, I may have overlooked the point he was trying to make. Because, if anything, "W." paints a very sympathetic picture of George W. Bush. Definitely not what I was expecting.
The portrayals of those in the media spotlight for the last eight years range from uncanny (Thandie Newton as Condaleeza Rice) to scary (Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney) to original (James Cromwell as Bush Sr.). But all are heartbreaking considering the devastating real-world results of the decisions they've made.
At the center of it all is Josh Brolin, an unlikely candidate to portray "W.", but, as it turns out, a savvy one. He's simply amazing in a performance that seems to be part impersonation, yet 100% …
Rating of
2.5/4
W.
Allison - wrote on 10/18/2008
W. was an alright movie. The theaters were practically full. Josh Brolin did a good job. Except in the '80s he looked too much like Josh Brolin and not enough like W. That is the makeup artist's fault though. Elizabeth Banks was a great Laura Bush. I didn't like Ellen Burstyn's wig (Barbara Bush). There was an annoying "Robin Hood" song that kept playing throughout the movie.
The most touching part was when GWB became a born-again Christian and quit drinking.
Overall, it felt that a bunch of stars got together to play dress up. The girl who played Condoleeza Rice hardly had any lines. It felt like she was there just to make Condie faces. Another actor that was underused was Toby Jones (Karl Rove). Usually he is always stellar, but he seemed like a silly puppet in this …
