Dubya and PoppyOliver Stone’s ” W,” now out on DVD, is conspicuous for what it left out, not for what it includes. The other main facet of the movie t

Oliver Stone’s ” W,” now out on DVD, is conspicuous for what it left out, not for what it includes. The other main facet of the movie that grabs you is the guessing game of what actor is impersonating what member of Bush’s Cabinet and entourage. Some are more successful than others. There are three main strands in the biopic of our 43 president, who over this weekend was ranked 36 by a gathering of 65 historians. And they are: Delving into his youthful drinking and aimlessness; his relationship with his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, a difficult relationship for both parties; and the start-up of the War in Iraq and how it was rationalized and how it quickly got out of control, being one of his Administration’s more egregious miscalculations.
His father had to use his influence to bail him out of a number of escapades and binds that his drinking had got him into, basically treating him as a family liability; he was the son who lived in the shadow of Jeb Bush, who was the favored son because he was more reliable, directed, and a smooth operator. Jeb was the one the family expected big things out of, not the bumbling George Junior. So, emotionally speaking, Dubya had a chip on his shoulder and was driven to prove his worth to “Poppy,” his childhood nickname for his father which had carried over into adult life. And it’s true the Senior Bush and Barbara treated him as if he were mentally challenged and barely able to tie his own shoe laces. When he told them that he was going to run for governor of Texas, they all but laughed in his face and tried to talk him out of it because Jeb was running for office in Florida and his race could distract from Jeb’s. That only fueled his fire and pricked his inferiority complex. He was determined to show his parents he had the stuff to be a successful politician. Interestingly, when Elder Bush asked Ronald Reagan to help George Junior find a job, the president wrote in his journal that junior was his Vice President’s ne’er-do-well son who has never had a decent job and he was almost 40 years old. That was 1986. Well, Poppy got him a loan of $600,000 to become part owner of the Texas Rangers and when Junior sold his share of the club he made $43 million. It always helps to be well-connected.
“W” completely ignores many aspects of Bush’s program, like compassionate conservatism, his faith-based initiatives, his tax cuts for the wealthy, the attempt to privatize Social Security, the counter terrorism slip-ups, the increase of executive power, and other issues. His klutzy personal style was dealt with throughout the movie. But his ineptitude with the English language was barely touched upon. That being said, I realize that Stone was not attempting to make an epic about George Bush, so it was understandable that he sought to narrow his focus down to the War in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would clearly be the hallmark (and black eye) on his eight years in office, along with 9/11 and the serious recession which began during his watch. There is a fair amount of discussion in the ‘War Room’ about Bushian policy about the War and Foreign Affairs. Much of it rings true.
The actors who impersonated the actual figures were, by and large, able to pull it off, with varying degrees of success. One was an abject failure; that was Scott Glenn’s portrayal of Donald Rumsfeld. His personality is too soft to be the proud, aggressive Rumsfeld. In contrast, Richard Deyfuss interpretation of Dick Cheney was right on the money, both in appearance, mannerism and authoritative thinking. He was the main voice of the Neoconservative fellowship in the Administration. Dubya swallowed his line hook, line and sinker. Jeffrey Wright, a fine actor, did a good job as Colin Powell and demonstrated how Powell was the odd man out in the War Room. I did not even recognize Thandie Newton as Condi Rice as she hid her sex appeal and became a plainer and desexed professional woman amid a gaggle of Republican men. She hung back and was not a major participant, which seemed about right measure for her. Toby Jones, who did a marvelous impersonation of Truman Capote in “Infamous,” was Karl Rove. Although his role was minor, Jones did an adequate job.
As a final word I would say the film, although interesting, as was Josh Brolin’s performance, indeed, much more so then his portrayal of Dan White in “Milk,” was anti-climatic, coming so late in Bush’s second term, when we all knew what he and his neoconservative entourage had been up to for eight years. I don’t know what Stone’s budget was but the film grossed $25 million in the theaters, which you might call a modest success. I am sure it didn’t do better because it seemed beside the point and too little too late.