Even though I've watched this more than 6 years after it came out, the solid writing and the well-timed comedic touches still felt as fresh. I assumed Mr. Ferrell had a team of writers contribute to the show while viewing it, but it turns out he has adopted the character so closely that the writing was all his. And he runs through it without a hitch in a well-choreographed, well-directed, and extremely well-acted play.You're likely to enjoy it even when you don't usually like his movies. This is not a self-celebratory liberal bashing of George W. Bush at all. You may even sympathize with the guy for being put in a place that turned out to be more demanding than he possibly expected. Definitely worth checking it out...

I've noticed that any review here that says this was not funny tends to be voted down whereas any review that says it was funny is voted useful, quality of writing seems to be out of the equation and the politics of the situation appear to be the all, because obviously liberals will love anything that mocks conservatives while only red neck racists would not love this film, right? Well, it will make no difference (to borrow a phrase, "haters gonna hate") but as a white, middle class male in my 30's who watches the Daily Show and is "liberal" in most issues, I should have been target audience for this and, if I'm honest I did watch it because I expected to find Bush easy to laugh at and for my own opinions to be reaffirmed in the meantime.Problem is that this film is so incredibly basic that it just doesn't work. If you take it as an attempt at political satire then it is a total fail because there is almost nothing clever in here; considering the Daily Show ate well for years off the Bush presidency and produced constant material that was as funny as it was cutting. There is nothing here that even comes close. So OK, maybe that is me being unfair to the material because it is clearly not trying to be a biting satire but rather just a basic mocking of Bush based on the idea that he is dumb and fake. This is not anything new and it is a pretty well mined seam for the film to try and get something out of, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Problem is that the material is just crude and unfunny without any real invention or wit – the biggest laughs from the crowd come due to a picture of a penis. Add to that the fact that we have almost 3 minutes given over to a moment where Condoleezza Rice does an erotic dance for Bush (in a bit so painful I wondered if it would ever end) and you're starting to get the idea. In fairness it is a Will Ferrell film so one should not be surprised and it does play to the teenage boy market rather anyone used to their political comedy being either (a) political, or (b) funny.Ferrell is not a good impressionist but, like the material, he goes for the easy route and he vaguely gets there – I know the point is not that he is meant to look or sound particularly like Bush but it does add to the "good enough" feel the film has. Overall I was looking forward to this film but it doesn't deliver. No matter how you look at it (political satire or fish-in-barrel exercise) it isn't funny and has no wit or invention. The "Bush is dumb" line has produced some very funny material in the past, while his terrible presidency has given us some great, cutting satire – this film cannot manage to be even average in either of those camps.

Going through the history of George W. Bush, both as a man and as the 43rd President, is like dissecting a living, breathing train wreck that has a goofy look on its face like the train gave someone a wedgie before it went chuckling off the rails. Whatever your political views are, it's hard not to see Bush's flaws to one degree or another, and at the same time his status as a cultural icon (yes, icon, sad to say it's kind of true). So, Will Ferrell took a hold of that and did a one-man show as Bush going through his own history. One might see that it's just a long-form version of one of his SNL skits as Bush addressing the nation, but it also has that quality of the retrospective; this is Will Ferrell doing his own riff on that play (later Altman film) Secret Honor where Richard Nixon sat with a tape recorder going over his paranoid history as president.For Bush, history will judge him rightly (or rightfully?), but for Ferrell it's a chance to blend history with rumor and just downright surreal exaggeration, always for comic effect. Sometimes it doesn't totally work (I grew tired of the secret service guy dancing on stage; the lighting guys have a ball but it doesn't strike up the same amount of laughs as the star), but for the most part Ferrell and his writers have a blast with actual quotes from Bush, or just pictures of people from his cabinet (I busted a gut over his line about Richard Pearl being like a "Cuddly bear"), or just going completely off the wall about things like the rumored monkeys from Morocco for Iraq to detonate land mines. It is almost too much at times, but it's never less than amusing and at times it's some of the funniest material from Ferrell in years.Now, there will be some who may grow tired of the shtick faster than others; it's not a total laugh-a-second venture like with Ferrel's movies at their very best. There's even a few moments where there's an ironic seriousness, something about the whole show that is sobering to what the past 8 years have been like. For most fans it should be a treat, and maybe it will bring some non-fans over as well. It's crazy and smart satire with more hits than misses.

I am not a big Will Ferrell fan. I cannot think of a single movie he has made that I enjoyed. That said, I have to admit that he totally personified George W. Bush in this performance. I couldn't even see Ferrell. All I saw throughout was W.His excellent performance notwithstanding, the show itself was not particularly funny. There is nothing funny about George W. Bush. The pain that he has caused first in Texas, and then on the whole country is no laughing matter. I really tried to find something to laugh at, but I sat there like a deer caught in the headlights the entire time.Trying to make us laugh at W. is like trying to make us laugh at cancer.