W. (I) (2008)

A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writer:

Stanley Weiser

Stars:

Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ioan Gruffudd

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Brolin	...	George W. Bush
Colin Hanks	...	Speechwriter #1
Toby Jones	...	Karl Rove
Dennis Boutsikaris	...	Paul Wolfowitz
Jeffrey Wright	...	Colin Powell
Thandie Newton	...	Condoleezza Rice
Scott Glenn	...	Donald Rumsfeld
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Dick Cheney
Bruce McGill	...	George Tenet
Wes Chatham	...	Fraternity Enforcer
Jesse Bradford	...	Fraternity President
Sean Stone	...	Fraternity Pledge #1
Ben Mayer	...	Fraternity Pledge #2
James Cromwell	...	George H.W. Bush
Juan Gabriel Pareja	...	Oil Worker

Storyline

Oliver Stone's biographical take on the life of George W. Bush, one of the most controversial presidents in USA history, chronicling from his wild and carefree days in college, to his military service, to his governorship of Texas and role in the oil business, his 2000 candidacy for president, his first turbulent four years, and his 2004 re-election campaign.

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Plot Keywords:

president | texas | oil | college | 2000s | 

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Taglines:

A life misunderestimated.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Entertainment [United States]

Country:

USA Australia Hong Kong Switzerland China

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Bush

Filming Locations:

Millennium Studios- 300 Douglas Street, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£183,065 (UK) (14 November 2008)

Gross:

$25,517,500 (USA) (28 November 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, QED International, Omnilab Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ellen Burstyn and Jeffrey Wright share the same birthday. The two are never in the same scene together.

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Goofs

(at around 48 mins) At the lunch CIA Director George Tenet is mistakenly referred to as "Tenant".

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Quotes

Karl Rove: Here they come they'll be bringing the heat.
George W. Bush: I know, don't swing at anything I can't hit.
Reporter #1: Mr. Bush, Mr. Bush, you didn't talk much about education. What are your plans for reform?
George W. Bush: Well, uh, I'm gonna deregulate school districts so that teachers and administrators can, you know, can develop programs to best fit their kids
Reporter #2: Sir, are you proposing to measure student's progress?
George W. Bush: Oh, well, we need to make a wholesale effort against racial profiling, you know? Which is, uh, illiterate children. You ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, you see a Christian cross with a period. It morphs into the W-period logo of the movie.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.43 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Robin Hood
Written by Carl Sigman
Performed by Dick James
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Don't Misunderestimate this Film

Lefties expecting a hatchet-job will be as disappointed as Righties expecting a hatchet-job. Demonstrating decency and restraint far beyond what his subject is deserving of, Oliver Stone demonstrates rare wisdom and the hindsight of someone trying to understand this period of history from a standpoint of decades in the future. He creates a film that swings wildly between comedy and tragedy, tragi-comedy and comic tragedy in his portrait of a man who though born to privilege, needs to have greatness thrust upon him-and is not up to the task he seeks. It is , and I do not use this term lightly: Shakespearean.

Josh Brolin's Oscar-worthy performance manages two amazing feats: 1) He makes you forgot you are watching Josh Brolin as he portrays W. over a 40-year period and 2) He makes even a left-leaner like myself forget how much one may hate George W. Bush. I just wanted to yell at the screen ala Rocky Horror, "You seem to be a nice guy who enjoys people...stay with baseball!!!" All of the supporting cast of characters in the Bush Dynasty are handled with dignity and respect (particularly James Cromwell as Bush the First), and Stone is decent enough to leave the Bush Twins out of it. Jeffrey Wright might be up for a Best Supporting Actor nod for his thoughtful and restrained portrayal of Colin Powell.

I am racking my brain trying to remember when recent history was made into such a vital film; this is the antithesis to a quickie made-for-TV movie about Amy Fischer and the like.