Uncommited Voters Should Watch W.

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Marilyn and I went to the movies on Monday evening. We saw the new Oliver Stone movie W. We enjoyed it, and sure enough, we came away feeling some degree of empathy for president Bush.

It was really interesting to see the run-up to the war compressed into a short period of time. At the time events were unfolding there seemed be a certain amount of sense to things, and of course, most of the lies hadn’t been exposed at that point. Looking back, knowing what we know now, its hard to believe they got away with it.

There are a couple of scenes about cabinet meetings that really lay out the thinking that led to the war in stark tems. Colin Powell seems to be the only sane one in the bunch. Everyone else seems to be acting out a secret script while giving lip-service to protecting the country. Cheney finally lays out the real agenda in a beautiful speech about establishing a new American empire based around the Middle East, with Iran as the real prize. Afghanistan and Iraq were only supposed to be warm-up exercises. The whole scene was acted out very seriously, yet I found myself laughing hysterically. The hubris was just unbelievable.

None of the characters seemed to have any understanding of how the world really worked. Certainly none of them realized that no Arab country would allow ever allow an infidel army to operate within its borders unopposed. It didn’t even enter their minds that any effective opposition was even possible.

Actors

Brolin did a superb job as Bush. He had the strut and the body language down pat so that very soon he was Bush. In spite of the formidable job he did, for me the real stars were Richard Dryfuss and Scot Glen.

Dryfuss was very good as Cheney. With his make-up on he was a virtual copy of the vice-president. He didn’t seem to have to work very hard at the role because of the similarity in appearance. That’s just a personal opinion, of course, because he really pulled it off well.

As far as I’m concerned, the best job of acting was done by Scot Glen. He played Rumsfeld. He doesn’t look anything like him and there was no attempt to use make-up to negate that. As the movie developed, though, that difference in appearance became irrelevant. He managed to inject a degree of madness into the Rumsfeld character that I think is quite accurate. This is the first time I’ve seen Glen in a role that actually stretched him as an actor, and he nailed it.

All in all, a really good movie.

Release Date

There has been a lot of criticism of the release date with many people saying it should have been held until after the election. I disagree completely. This was the perfect time to release it. The main message of the movie is that this is what happens when ignorant, ambitious people get their hands on the levers of power. As far as I can see, Sarah Palin is Bush in drag. The possibility of her becoming president should be enough to make anyone vote for Obama and anyone who is still undecided should get a free ticket to see W before casting their vote.

Posted by: swampy | 10-24-2008 | 02:10 PM
Posted in: Uncategorized