Hee-Haw meets Dr. Strangelove.
Comment
10/18/08
W. (2008)
60
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:201
Fresh:120
Rotten:81
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: A surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the 43rd American president, W. is fascinating in spots, but merely rudimentary as a whole.
Theatrical Release:07-11-2008
Synopsis: Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director... [More]
Starring: Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks
Director: Oliver Stone
Reviews for W.
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
(Stone) presents a timid bio-pic about a regular, shiftless guy born into wealth who somehow stumbles into the presidency of the United States.
10/18/08
No Bush fan myself, I was frequently moved by the spectacle of Stone's Bush, who might have been a happier and certainly less troublesome man had he not been born a Bush.
10/18/08
It has its moments, one of the finest at the conclusion.
10/18/08
Top CriticIf Stone's portrait of George Bush is laid on with a trowel, maybe it's because God seems to have engineered the real Bush's life with a similarly crude sense of irony.
10/18/08
The film may be ill-timed, arguably unnecessary and no more psychologically probing than any other Stone movie. But much of it works as deft, brisk, slyly engaging docudrama.
10/18/08
Stone's meticulous reenactment of the public and private Bush seizes control of the grand narrative from the president and his expert magicians.
10/18/08
Perhaps there is a factory near Shanghai doing an express run of Dick Cheney masks in time for Halloween.
10/18/08
It's not quite right to call W. a wasted opportunity: that would suggest that the idea of a biopic of the sitting president had some value in the first place.
10/18/08
Tepid telling of 43rd president's rise to power.
10/17/08
Oliver Stone's take on Bush could be spot-on, or it could just be armchair analysis. All I know is that I was heavily involved in his vision. This is great, ambitious filmmaking from a director who is not afraid to delve inside his subjects.
10/17/08
This may be the most overdetermined psychological profile since Hitchcock wound up Norman Bates and let him go.
10/17/08
While there are a few jabs taken at Bush throughout the 110 minutes of running time, W. actually makes you empathize with everything our commander in chief has gone through over the decades: the good, the bad and even the ugly.
10/17/08
By his own admission, George W. Bush has his faults, so it seems almost fitting that W. should have them, too.
10/17/08
with so many famous people playing famous people to varying degrees of quality, it seems like a weak Saturday Night Live sketch without the jokes
10/17/08
Nothing wrong with a little caricature, as it's what keeps the movie entertaining. But some day I'd like to see a movie on this topic that really tries to get to the truth as well.
10/17/08
Funny, compelling, enlightening and more than a little unnerving. Josh Brolin leaps into the Best Actor Oscar race.
10/17/08
W.'s issue isn't its political statements; it's that there isn't a satisfactory film there to back them up.
10/17/08
Equal parts comedy (inevitably only-in-America satire) and Oedipal psycho-drama...[from] the bard of American political cinema.
10/17/08
Josh Brolin is phenomenal. He does more than just impersonate W, he embodies him, totally getting lost in the character.
10/17/08
Latest News for W.
February 09, 2009:
RT on DVD: Oliver's W, Spike's St. Anna, and My Name is Bruce!
What better way to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama by watching Oliver Stone's W. this week on DVD? While a handful of middling studio releases hit home... More...
February 08, 2009:
This Stone-d Bush is a pampered village idiot prop, with Thandie's bubbleheaded Condi stealing the show. And while W's 'just make sure you hit no camels on the ass,' is wild, the movie begs the question, who is responsible? W: The Audacity Of Honing Up. 
More...
February 01, 2009:
This Stone-d Bush is a pampered village idiot prop, with Thandie's bubbleheaded Condi stealing the show. And while W's 'just make sure you hit no camels on the ass,' is wild, the movie begs the question, who is responsible? W: The Audacity Of Honing Up.
More...
November 14, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Is Zack And Miri Make A Porno On The Money (Shot)? Is Max Payne Maxing Or Taxing?
This week in the UK cinema screens we have Kevin Smith's latest, the intuitively titled Zack And Miri Make A Porno. Marky Mark Wahlberg stars in the video game adaptation Max... More...
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