I just spent 2 hours watching George W. Bush, Jr. maligned in every way possible.  But don't think he was singled out.  Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, VP Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and Mom & "Papi' Bush all get harpooned.  Somehow, Jeb Bush gets to be the son with the intellect but not quite the same charisma as his big brother.  He's mostly left only to references in dialogue.  My rating:  $4.50 (1.-10.).

Josh Brolin got the UNenviable job of recreating W.'s evolution from frat-boy to alcoholic rich boy with no visible means of support to the life of his political party.  I have to say he managed the voice and body language really well especially in Bush's older years.  He's represented as the football (well, seems Bush is more of a baseball fan) hero who can't grow up in the real world.  If it's too hot at the oil well job, just quit.  Heck, just quit any job cuz good ole dad will have another waiting in the wings.  So what you're as "big disapointment".  Go have a drink with friends.  His first full time job, in this movie, was assisting with his dad's presidential campaign in 1987.  Entering politics himself is almost a whim for lack of anything better to do with his life. 

Respectable actor, James Cromwell, presents George H.W. Bush as a taciturn man whose disappointment with his son pervades every interaction.  Ellen Burstyn does a good Barbara Bush except with a little back-alley harpy in private.  They both remind us from whence Junior inherited his drinking problem.  I could actually pick out the Jim Beam endorsement as well as Aquafina, O'Douls, and several other drink company products.  Fortunately, I have never read nor seen any media representation of either Bush parent as the marginally trashy-type in their private lives --- especially Barbara.

Back to the film.  Bush is depicted as constantly stuffing his mouth and talking.....at the same time.  Even during his first meeting with Laura (Elizabeth Banks), he's eating like a starving man.  Talking Middle Eastern politics with Cheney, he's eating like no tomorrow.  Not sure what Stone's fascination was with Bush's eating other than to magnify his distain for Bush's manners.  He has some kind of crisis out jogging one day that sends him to AA.  There, religion becomes a soapbox for the rest of his life's activities. 

Speaking of Laura Bush, she's so mesmerized by W's charm she's useless as a human being.  Dressed in conservative suits in public, she stands behind her man with a stupid grin pasted on her face.  In private, she gets tickets to the theater to distract him from his worries.  As a teacher, Laura makes W. promise to support education issues but W. can't even keep his tenses correct during press questioning.  He has to be given scripted answers to memorize so his own stupidity doesn't make him a laughing stock.  (Kinda like Jethro in "The Beverly Hillbillies", for example.) 

The Iraq War comes across as Bush's chance to show his own dad how a strong man directs foreign policy (he wanted Bush, Sr. to take out Iraq after the Kuwaiti conflict).  But he's shown as too stupid to figure out how to manage it.  He IS smarted enough to know the American People have to 'buy it'.  That's how they came up with "Axis of Evil" and the emphasis on WMD's (weapons of mass destruction -- in case you forgot).  Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss - a Democrat from way back) is particularly depicted as the mastermind behind the invasion of Iraq. 

But, OMG, Condoleezza gets to be the token black woman, sycophant who bows and scrapes at Bush's heels.  Whatever she did to p--s Stone off must have been pretty bad.  Thandi Newton is made up well and looks like Rice.  But she sounds like a nasally whiner from way back -- echoing Bush's words, stroking his ego, having no independent thought.  It was horrible and she should be outraged.  The woman didn't get a doctorate in International Studies and sit on tons of business and academic boards by being an idiot.  See her accomplishments:  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/41252.htm

Every single person in Bush's cabinet has a turn at the "I'm an idiot" table.  Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright - Felix in "Casino Royale") gets some leniency.  He tries to talk political sense into the cabinet but all the butt kissers and those with private agendas verbally beat him back.  Ultimately, pushed to the wall, he goes along with the party line. 

If you enjoy watching dogs getting kicked and taking candy from babies, you'll enjoy this movie.  It would have been funnier, not to mention shorter, as a skit on Saturday Night Live.  I'm not enamored by Bush's last term but this is less a biography and more a personal grudge.  

Stanley Weiser wrote this original screenplay.  He worked with Stone before on the movie "Wall Street" back in 1987.  It's rated PG-13.   This means kids of any age can go see it.  My rating objection is that children (and most adults) will rightfully come out with total disrespect for the President.  Oh bother, kids probably wouldn't stay awake through anyway.  It's your choice. 

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