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October 06, 2008
W.: The Short Form
I'm not going to write a lot about W. here... I really would like to see it again before getting too deep into it.
But...
Brolin should be nominated for the Oscar. We'll see whether the crowd around Best Actor is too big for him to crack, but it is a letter perfect performance that looks much, much easier than most critics and audiences, I think, will understand.
The cast is uniformly excellent, really. The fascinating thing is the two distinct groups; the ones who embody the familiar political characters and the ones who do not. For instance, I would dare anyone who didn't know Thandie Newton was in the movie to recognize her channeling Condoleezza Rice. I don't know whether I would have seen her as a top-top choice to host SNL, but this performance shows a skill set that is unexpected in an actress best known for her beauty. Flip side, the great James Cromwell doesn't do a single thing to be more like the elder George Bush, aka Poppy. Richard Dreyfuss does Cheney without any imitative effort... Jeffrey Wright becomes Colin Powell. And so on.
The only downside is that the movie doesn’t offer the massive supporting cast a lot of big awards-style moments. They are just really, really good. And that really should be enough.
The film is very well made, another solid success in the director's chair for Oliver Stone (following World Trade Center).
The question of the film is, "Why?"
The structure, which jumps from the W. White House into the past that brought him there, starts strong and at a quick pace. And not unlike the presidency, things slow down quite a bit once the war comes along.
My instinct is that a movie that has no natural ending is problematic... and that even doing the film in almost real-time, that another month in the editing room would have helped some third act pacing issues. It's not like I can sit and point to specific things I would cut or complain about instinctually. But it gets long as you pass the halfway mark.
I like the movie. It is not Strangelove in any way. It doesn’t aspire to be. We laugh at the familiar and it is often funny, but it is not a comedy, really. It’s a life, unexpected. But the Big Theme appears, on this viewing, to be missing in action.
It was an interesting evening, as I went for a screening and got a quickie premiere, loaded with celebrities, many for the Stone family. This raised the bar… and perhaps that and my personal hopes for this film skewed my perception. Perhaps I will see the Big Theme the next time through. Perhaps not.
But Brolin is magnificent in a way very different than Langella in Frost/Nixon or Hopkins in Stone’s Nixon. It is not an imitation, yet it is a perfect imitation… and you don’t just see that every day. (Demián Bichir as Castro in Che' is a similar style of turn.)
I will be thrilled if he has a reasonable shot at the double dip as Dan White in Milk, because Brolin has quickly become one of those guys who you actually root for, joining Clooney and Wahlberg in that unusual Hollywood group.
Posted by dpoland at October 6, 2008 11:18 PM
Comments
BROLIN IS YOUR GOD, AND YOU ARE INFERIOR TO HIM.
HOW DO YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELVES?
After this mini review and that BODY OF LIES write off, we can clearly see that POLAND is in his PISSY September-October mood, where he HAS to nitpick everything, because GOD FORBID an actual rave emerge from this season and SHOOT TO HELL his INSANE AND ARBITRARY disdain for the films released this time of year.
Fucking CITIZEN KANE could drop on October 17th, and D-PO would produce some fucking pie chart o' perfection, tuned to his own arbitrary whims, that would somehow justify a certain indifference to it because no real contender had been released on that date before.
Or some shit.
Posted by: LexG ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 7, 2008 12:09 AM
Lex, get a grip, and lay off the booze. Dave LIKED the movie. It's basically a very positive review. It's his job to citique the movie.
Personally I can't wait for this one. Looks like Stone has redeemed himself after the turgid (apart from the 15 minute towers collapse part) WTC.
Posted by: bluelouboyle at October 7, 2008 12:24 AM
I hope Brolin gets his Oscar shot. Like you said, can't help but like the guy. Glad the movie turned out for the better.
Posted by: SmilingPolitely at October 7, 2008 05:10 AM
Good performances, I'm sure. Competently and even expertly made, no doubt.
But I've had my fill of these people. Why would I want to spend my money to see them blown-up to larger-than-life-size??
Moreover, that's the question, yes; the one apparent from the moment the movie was announced and, sadly, what is rightly asked of Stone's last several films:
W.hy? indeed.
Posted by: Campbell at October 7, 2008 08:25 AM
I agree, "W.hy indeed?" I don't think I will be able to drag myself out to relive the life & times of these scumbuckets even if the performances & direction is excellent. I will say the latest trailers tweaked my interest...a little. But, to be trapped in a room with a 40-foot W? *shudder*
Posted by: Pelham123 at October 7, 2008 08:36 AM
Count me as still very excited for this if only mildly disappointed it's not as satirical as its been sold...
However, I'm with you on Brolin and Clooney, but MARK WAHLBERG?! The latter doesn't have the acting chops of the first two, and he just radiates arrogance and douchebaggery in every television appearance and print feature. I just don't get it...
Posted by: PanTheFaun at October 7, 2008 10:04 AM
Re: the above, yeah, I could see that being said of the guy who made Boogie Nights, Three Kings, or Huckabees, but not of the guy who made Planet of the Apes, The Happening, and all those underwear ads.
Posted by: jeffmcm at October 7, 2008 11:44 AM
What is this BLASPHEMY?
WAHLBERG IS YOUR GOD AND SHOULD BE YOUR ROLE MODEL in life. HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT TO BE MARK WAHLBERG?
DUDE FUCKING OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWNS.
Even if he never did anything again but CORVETTE SUMMER 2, he should get a lifetime of props for starring in THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL FUCKING TIME, "Boogie Nights."
But then EVERYTHING he's made sense is such complete and TOTAL OWNAGE that even LORD CRUISE couldn't be blamed for turning green with envy.
I was gonna list all his films that OWN but you can just direct yourself to IMDB and READ HIS ENTIRE LIST OF CREDITS, because they are all WORLD-CLASS WORKS OF OWNAGE THAT OUGHT TO INSPIRE YOU TO BE THE BEST AT LIFE instead of THE BEST AT FUCKING WHINING.
NOW GET OWNED:
Posted by: LexG at October 7, 2008 12:28 PM
You're such a douche. Clearly you're not taking your own advice because you're an office schlub with no life.
Dave, i liked the part where you wrote "And not unlike the presidency, things slow down quite a bit once the war comes along." It's a strange thing indeed that TV networks actually showing George W Bush doing anything has become incredibly rare. The Wall Street bailout package was the first time I had seen or heard from him in months.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at October 8, 2008 03:35 AM
BROLIN IS YOUR GOD.
BOW TO HIM. BOW.
Posted by: LexG at October 8, 2008 12:57 PM
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