I think a lot of people felt that Stone was really going to lay into Dubya but he didn't. Instead Stone made Dubya look as if he was really trying to do good and that due to bad circumstances things unfolded the way they did, unintenionally. In the end you be the judge for what you want and don't want to believe. But overall if the viewer looks at W. as a film of fiction and nothing else, it's not half bad. Brolin is a fantastic actor and he was superb in this one as Dubya. Worth the watch for Brolin's performance.

If George W. Bush was anything, he wasn't his father. His father, George H.W. Bush was originally a New Englander, born in Massachusetts and then grew up in Vermont. While George H. W. did not have a Texas accent, son George W. did, growing up mainly in Houston and Midland, Texas. George W. sported cowboy hats, consumed burgers and beers, and boozed it up with broads at bars unlike his father who was the consummate intellectual New Englander, although both went to Yale. The present bio-pic is a kind of montage of the life of George W. Bush, interspersing scenes from his presidency with those of his formative years.Josh Brolin offers one of the best performances of his career, portraying the younger W. Bush as a carousing adolescent whose irresponsibility with booze is only matched by his exceptional driving techniques, which involve swerving through streets and running into things. Some of the best scenes are Bush's early years where appears almost diametrically opposite from his prominent father. While his father (James Cromwell in an equally compelling performance) was tempered and intellectual, Bush is the free-wheeling party animal. His first "test" is when he rushes Delta Kappa Epsilon, a Yale fraternity, where during a hazing, he's able to outdo his fellow rushers. (Legend has it the character of Bluto from "Animal House" was based on George W. when he was a member of the Yale frat house!) He is portrayed as a directionless scatterbrain, unable to hold down jobs and careers for any length of time. Unlike his steady father, W.'s drinking continually worsens, and he often proposes to women he barely knows.Frequently, we fast-forward to the Bush presidency. Richard Dreyfus is outstanding as Dick Cheney, and honorable mention goes to Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell. His presidency is as scattered as his adolescent years, not quite knowing who is doing what in his cabinet. There is a sense that others with more intellect than himself are actually calling the shots behind his back. In an interesting early scene, during lunch with the Vice President, Cheney proposes a "hypothetical" scenario in which the President takes it too literally and compromises his sandwich as a result!Back in the formative years, Bush volunteers to help his father in his presidential bid. And then has life-changing experience after he's boozed it up hard one night. He goes on a jog which does not go as planned and by the end of the sequence, he's rubbing shoulders with Evangelicals. Eventually he would convert, help to bring out the Evangelical vote in favor of his father in 1988, and become governor of Texas in 1994. And then he would run for president.A thoroughly entertaining film which ponders more questions than it answers. Who was the real George W.? In a few places, we see W. standing in the middle of an empty baseball field, trying to catch an imagined fly ball. Every time the scene returns, the ball is more uncatchable. Which maybe speaks to various aspects of W. Was it that he couldn't quite catch the life he desired? Or maybe he was over-reaching? Or maybe the figure of W. is us, and the ball represents him, and we can't quite grasp him? Certainly not Stone's best film, but a good one.

I watched this in 2016 for the first time and it's just sad to see how bias the film and acting is in terms of representing all the left wing bigotry they have for Bush and Republican party. The reviews by others are predictably confident that Stone's portrayals and spot on and show the "real" characteristics of Bush. Right. Even the "Trivia" comments that Brolin lost lots of weight to play a younger Bush then had to put it back on to play an aging Bush. On the tails of Clinton's obsession with Cheeseburgers and fries, one can only imagine that was Bill's request in light of Bush's healthy lifestyle.I'll just leave it at this, there's no getting around the idea this movie was made as a vehicle for Stone to get his message out about a man he and other liberals disagree with. So much for an honest biography that comes anywhere close to factual or fair and balanced.

W. (2008): Dir: Oliver Stone / Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Burstyn: Satire view of President George W. Bush with flashbacks to his younger days in a fraternity, to his shaky relationship with his father, to his failures with the war in Iraq. This is all very curios and it starts out with appeal but then it becomes choppy where scenes aren't followed up such as the scene where he chokes on a pretzel, or the outside jog where he passes out. Directed by Oliver Stone who is all over the place. It is as if he attempts to jam as much of Bush's life into one movie regardless how it fit. This is not Stone's first Presidential film. He previously made J.F. K and Nixon. He does highlight the youthfulness of Bush, played with appeal by Josh Brolin who brings a certain comical edge to Bush's desires and accomplishments. Elizabeth Banks plays Laura Bush in a departure from her usual romantic comedy flare. James Cromwell is terrific as the frustrated Bush Sr who cannot seem to straighten out his drunken son and get him to take life seriously. Then there is Richard Dreyfuss as the extremely criticized Dick Cheney. Ellen Burstyn is featured as Barbara Bush who witnesses the confrontations between father and son. Doesn't always work but it gives an often amusing look at a President that was seen as not being with it. Score: 7 / 10