George Meets Laura In This New Clip From W.

Posted by Conrad Rothbaum (conrad@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 29, 2008

W. \"Get Ready\" Teaser Poster

Let’s not let politics divide us.

I hope that Oliver Stone produces an unbiased look at George Bush with W., and I hope this as a liberal. I genuinely want to see how a guy like George Bush became president, and maybe see the events of his life in an accurate way so I could understand him a bit better. However, I just don’t see Oliver Stone presenting what did happen in George Bush’s life, rather, I see him presenting what “probably” happened.

That said, I was happy to see the clip below from W. crop up on CNN (of all places):

So here we have the future president (played with genuine swagger by Josh Brolin) meeting his future first lady (played nervous apprehensiveness by Elizabeth Banks) for the first time. Stone paints Bush as aggressive and arrogant when it comes to relationships and dating—an interesting interpretation of Bush’s character. I don’t know George W. Bush personally– I’ve only seen him give semi-literate speeches on the tube– so in all honesty don’t know what he’s like in his spare time, or what he was like decades ago when he was running for congress… So I’m not sure if this is an accurate or inaccurate adaptation of personality-to-screen… However, the characters (true-to-life or not) are interesting and the dialogue is well conceived.

It piqued a simple interest in me when I heard Laura (Welsh) say, “I read, I smoke… I admire.” It’s jarring to see someone who was only a figure standing beside her powerful husband take on a new life. Or it could just be that I’m a sucker for Elizabeth Banks.

In a way I wish this were like Citizen Kane—about Bush, but not directly about him. But that’s only me. It would be a small feat if Oliver Stone got me to sympathize with Bush, and a large one if he got me to like him.

W. will see a limited release on October 17th, 2008.

What do you say: Is there more to people than just how they vote, or how they run a country?


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  • MeatWad
    That scene was actually pretty good. Pulling off a human Bush, as opposed to a Will Ferrel cheese-ball, is definitely a feat. Hats off to Brolin.

    If Banks isn't naked in Kevins Smith's movie, I shall hate Smith to death. j/k
  • Joe
    Brolin will get an oscar if that is how he acts throughout the whole movie! Mark my words.
  • Phoghat
    "I hope that Oliver Stone produces an unbiased look at George Bush with W., and I hope this as a liberal. I genuinely want to see how a guy like George Bush became president"
    Yes, but, from your statement you are saying in effect: I KNOW what kind of guy this this AND want to see how he became president. You're presupposing that Bush is an A-hole.
  • Hm. Well, you're right, I do have pre-suppositions about Bush's character, but they're
    shaped by the speeches he's made and the things his administration has done to the
    country. to me he sort of seems like a dancing monkey. I want to see a different side of him
    that will show me how he got to be in a position of power, and who exactly he is off-
    camera, and who he was in his youth.

    am i being semi-clear? that was a bit convoluted, sorry.
  • I thought that was a pretty good clip. Oh, and the way Bush got elected was simple: In 2000 he carried 30 states for an electoral college victory and in 2001 he carried 31 states and 3million more votes. ;)

    In 20 years, history will be more kind to George Bush than partisan politics will allow right now. The news mucks the bad all day long. High oil, poor economy. What you don't read every day is the recent drop of oil and the fact that the US isn't really even close to a recession and has, in fact, posted almost constant growth and a resurgence in many economic areas.
  • :(
  • I'd like to point out that the Federal Reserve is in charge of controlling inflation, but Bush tipped the economy...and whether you'd like to believe it or not, Robert, we are in a recession. Google inflation data to see our dollar is getting weaker. What is helping us from collapsing is exports go up when your dollar gets weaker, but we all know that lowers our quality of life, from travelling, driving, et cetera, so you end up spending more time to work to live.

    The federal reserve cut interest rates alot (maybe a little too much) and that means more inflation. there isnt a switch to flip that lowers interest rates, they do it by putting more money out, which again causes inflation. Our economy really needs to recover, or we're going to see our dollar buys us less and less.

    Sorry, for the tangent, but I wanted to add my two cents. No offense to you, Robert, you sound like you have a fairly good grasp, but may be listening to that conservative media you knock so much. History will not be king to W, as historical facts will outweigh any biased news reporting.

    As for the movie clip, it's an interesting take on G.W. I'm not sure why Oliver Stone picked this topic and has played with it in a Judd Apatow manner in the trailers. This dialogue seems pretty good, so I have my hopes up for an intelligent drama.
  • Josh Brolin did a convincing Dubya, though he reminded me a lot of his cowboy character from No Country for Old Men... over all, i don't doubt that 'W.' will have the effect Oliver Stone desired
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