W. (film): Difference between revisions
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*[http://www.youtube.com/user/WtheFilm ''W the Film''] at ''[[YouTube]]'' |
*[http://www.youtube.com/user/WtheFilm ''W the Film''] at ''[[YouTube]]'' |
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*[http://www.wildscreen.tv/videos/3862861/ W. at wildscreen.tv] |
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{{Footer Films Oliver Stone}} |
{{Footer Films Oliver Stone}} |
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Revision as of 18:52, 18 October 2008
| W. | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Written by | Stanley Weiser Oliver Stone |
| Produced by | Moritz Borman Jon Kilik Bill Block Oliver Stone |
| Starring | Josh Brolin Elizabeth Banks James Cromwell Ellen Burstyn Richard Dreyfuss Thandie Newton Ioan Gruffudd Scott Glenn Jeffrey Wright Jason Ritter Toby Jones Jennifer Sipes Noah Wyle |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
Release dates | October 17, 2008 |
Running time | 129 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. |
W. is a 2008 comedy-drama film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as President Bush. Stone compares his goal for W. to the approach of The Queen (2006) and his own Nixon (1995). Filming began on May 12, 2008, in Louisiana and was released on October 17.[1] The Motion Picture Association of America rated the film PG-13 in the United States for "language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images."
Production
"I want a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from. It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be president of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq. It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors."
Director Oliver Stone was originally attached to direct Pinkville, a film about the Army's investigation of the My Lai Massacre, but development was canceled due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and actor Bruce Willis pulling out of the film three weeks before shooting was set to start.[3] As a result, United Artists shut the production down. Stone moved on to direct a film about the life and presidency of George W. Bush, shopping a script that had been written before the strike by Stanley Weiser, who had co-written Wall Street (1987) with Stone. Weiser and Stone read 17 books as part of their research for the script,[4] and worked on the project for a year before venturing to film Pinkville.[2] Stone has admitted that he and Weiser had to speculate on some dialogue: "You take all the facts and take the spirit of the scene and make it accurate to what you think happened".[3] W. is being financed independently, with Chinese, German, and Australian funds.[5] Lions Gate Entertainment is distributing the film.[3] Though Stone has criticized Bush for his administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq, the director said that he was not looking to make an "anti-Bush polemic". Stone compared his goal of the film to that of The Queen (2006), wanting to trace "seminal events in Bush's life". According to the director, "It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to Nixon (1995), to give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin. But if Nixon was a symphony, this is more like a chamber piece, and not as dark in tone."[2]
The film, originally titled Bush,[2] was re-titled W.[6] Filming began on May 12, 2008 in Shreveport, Louisiana,[1] and was still filming as of July 14, 2008.[7] The film was released on October 17, 2008, before the presidential election. [1] W. 's producers are reportedly running television spots for the film opposite Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain's ads this fall.[3]
On May 13, 2008 the New York Post published excerpts from an early draft of the script. The column, written by Cindy Adams, stated “Pro-Bushies will hate it, antis will love it.”[8]
Stone has described the structure of W. as a three-act film starting with Bush as a young man "with a missed life", followed by his transformation and "an assertion of will which was amazingly powerful" as he came out from his father's shadow, and finally his invasion of Iraq.[9]
Cast
- Josh Brolin as George W. Bush: Christian Bale was originally cast and spent months researching the role, but Bale dropped out after he was not satisfied with the prosthetic makeup. Stone remarked, "Christian’s a very methodical actor and he has to have the makeup thing work for him."[10] With Brolin's casting at the "last minute",[10] he spent months working on Bush's distinctive vocal style, calling hotels in Texas and talking to the people at the front desk, listening to their accents. The actor has also watched video of Bush walking. Brolin said, "It changes over the years, how he walks in his 30s, how he walks in foreign lands, before 9/11 and afterward. People hold their emotions in their bodies. They can't fake it. Especially him."[3] Stone felt "Brolin is the man who became George. Josh is American, he comes from rural California, [lives] on a central California ranch, and he has the cowboy thing. He has the walk and the talk and he is Western. I think Josh is better than George. He’s more handsome in a way. I think that if George ever accepts the movie [and watches it], he may very much like Josh Brolin doing him."[10]
- Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush: Banks said she would not do an impression of the First Lady. "I just want to honor her voice, her stillness, and her hairstyle".[3]
- Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice
- Jesse Bradford as Thatcher, a college buddy of Bush
- James Cromwell as George H. W. Bush
- Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney: Robert Duvall turned down the role.[11]
- Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld
- Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush
- Ioan Gruffudd as Tony Blair
- Jason Ritter as Jeb Bush
- Noah Wyle as Donald Evans
- Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell
- Bruce McGill as George Tenet
- Rob Corddry as Ari Fleischer
- Toby Jones as Karl Rove
- Dennis Boutsikaris as Paul Wolfowitz
Reception
W. has received mixed reviews from film critics.[12] Rotten Tomatoes reported that 54% of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 107, with an average score of 6.1/10.[13] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 58, based on 31 reviews.[12]
Giving the film four stars in his review Roger Ebert wrote that it was "fascinating" and praised all the actors, noting that Richard Dreyfuss, in particular, was "not so much a double as an embodiment" of Dick Cheney.[14] In contrast, Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post called the film "a rushed, wildly uneven, tonally jumbled caricature."[15]
References
- ^ a b c Fleming, Michael (2008-05-08). "Lionsgate books Oliver Stone's W". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Cite error: The named reference "fleming2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Michael Fleming (2008-01-20). "Oliver Stone votes for 'Bush' project". Variety. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Benjamin Svetkey (2008-05-07). "First Look: W, Oliver Stone's Bush Biopic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Stephen Galloway, Matthew Belloni (2008-04-07). "Bush biographers mixed on script for Oliver Stone's W". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Schuker, Lauren. "A Film on Bush Finds Friends Abroad". Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2008
- ^ Fleming, Michael (March 26, 2008). "Oliver Stone casts parents of W". Variety. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Brolin, Wright arrested in pub fight". Variety. 2008-07-13. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); More than one of|work=and|journal=specified (help) - ^ Cindy Adams (May 13, 2008). "Film Has A Few Words About Our President". New York Post. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mike Goodridge (May 30, 2008). "Interview: Oliver Stone". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c Larry Carroll (2008-10-15). "What Do Batman And George W. Bush Have In Common? Oliver Stone Explains…". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sperling, Nicole (March 26, 2008). "Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic coming together". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "W. (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ "W. Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2008-10-15). "W". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Ann Hornaday (2008-10-17). "'W': Mission Not Accomplished". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-17.