I’m on record of feeling that George W Bush is definitely the worst President of my 36 year life time and arguably the worst in American History. On a personal level, I hate the guy. He may be “Born Again,” but in his eyes I still see the coke-snorting alcoholic Frat Rat that he was in his youth. I hold the Presidency as a place for intelligent, wise and thoughtful folks. Going with your gut bullshit isn’t how to govern or lead this country, much less the world.

That said, George Dubya Bush fascinates me… It is astonishing to imagine that a man that failed at every business he ever attempted, that was a do nothing Governor, that admits to not liking to read… that a man like that could become President, not only that… but a President over a dramatically important sector of American History. A nation in crisis led by a “C” student.

That said, I’ve me W twice, once at a function at the Governor’s Mansion here in Austin, Texas and once while I was being interviewed about Star Wars on a program, that he was also a guest on… again while he was Governor. I didn’t have any Christopher Walken “The Ice Is Gonna Break!” moments. But instead, I couldn’t help but actually feel the man had a “redneck charisma.”

The years I spent in North Texas – dealing with Oil men, rounding up cattle, raising Quarter Horses – and coming from a family that made its money in Oil, Land & Cattle – and constantly being pressured to go into the “family business” I got who George appealed to, at least in Texas. I was just surprised how much further that “redneck charisma” took him. I always thought he’d be perceived as too hick. Kinda how everyone is reacting to Palin these days.

Also of personal note, my father worked in the Texas Republican Party in the late Sixties – working with the George H.W. Bush’s campaigns and even trying to get him on Nixon’s ticket way back when. For those that know my father, the idea that he was Republican is like trying to convince most people these days that Bush was a coke snorting, womanizing heavy drinker. It was just a different era. But I grew up my entire life hearing stories about what a fuck up George H. W. Bush’s son was. How he was an embarrassment to his father in the late sixties and early seventies.

So I walked into Oliver Stone’s W with a lot of Bush baggage. It was something I’ve been dying to see, but having now seen it, I can say with absolute certainty that I didn’t know what Oliver Stone was up to.

W is not DR STRANGELOVE. This isn’t a biting satire ridiculing a man. This isn’t a film about Liberal Revenge – with a mind set to smear the man as a hick Chauncey Gardner. W. isn’t about the Bush Presidency, at its soul, the film is about why a man that started off life wanting to be anything but his father, not only followed his footsteps into the White House, but got the second term his father didn’t. It’s a film about the fire that drives the Bush engine.

And that is an incredibly compelling question. Why would Bush do the things he has done?

There is a moment where you see W wake up. When you realize that he will not let Jeb take his place, when he is completely disgusted by his Father’s loss to Clinton – and the Bush we know today was born.

This film is extraordinary. Compelling from the first frames to the last. In terms of a portrait of a man who became President, it is arguably the best film made. I love Ford’s YOUNG MR. LINCOLN, but this is frankly, just a more compelling story. It has more genuine laughs and emotional beats. Lincoln is obviously a larger life, but here… Brolin’s BUSH does get the excuse to do so much nuance with the character. Through Brolin’s performance, I get why the folks around him admire W.

Josh Brolin will be nominated for Best Actor this year for this part. It is a phenomenal performance that goes beyond mere imitation, to living in the role. There’s a mindset that imitates the look in Bush’s eyes, not just the dim glimmer of dumbness, but when Bush turns on the charm and his eyes light up, that hang dog look, that amused look – and then an entire range of emotion that we haven’t seen from W. Brolin doesn’t play him as a corny TV imitation, but as a living breathing man with motivations, flaws and dynamics. His character shows the President’s gifts – alongside his faults.

But then the greatness of the film expands beyond just the masterful centerpiece that is Brolin’s W. Let’s start with his parents, Ellen Burstyn’s Barbara Bush is not the passive matronly ‘grandma’ that we see standing off to the left of George Sr. She’s got a temper and she’s a sharp willed lady. My father never mentioned that he knew Barbara Bush, but after the movie he said that Ellen Burstyn’s performance was dead on. Barbara was constantly on the scene in the Sixties at the Political offices and was every bit the character that Stone shows us with Burstyn’s tiny but memorable performance. Then there’s James Cromwell’s George Sr. Of all the actors in the film, he’s the shiny penny that doesn’t look right. He didn’t bury himself in make up or hair styles, instead he just played the spirit of George H.W. Bush. It’s a strong part, but given the transformation that everyone around him made, I kinda wish he’d allowed himself to be transformed a bit more.

Next are the actors that form the people around the President. Every last single one of them is fucking great! I’m serious. You take Richard Dreyfuss’ DICK CHENEY… he isn’t the sneering evil cackling Cardinal Richelieu. You very much get the idea that he is a power to be reckoned with at Bush’s White House. He is menacing, but you also see the admiration he has for George, the way George takes what Cheney is moving for and repackages it in a palatable for “Joe SixPack” as we’ve seen Sarah say. Not so much FOLKSYING it up, but by leaving out the REAL ISSUE and framing it with the issues that do concern the average Joe. But Dreyfuss, just the casting of him lends a weight to the role, a solid level of respect and ultimately he’s, for lack of a better phrase, a cocked double-barreled shotgun in the room… You find yourself waiting for him to fire. And you won’t be disappointed when he does.

Next we have Jeffrey Wright as General Colin Powell – most likely the most respected member of W’s initial Cabinet. I don’t know about you, but I love Jeffrey Wright – and I know it is only a matter of time till he picks up his Gold Bald Dude, he won’t get nominated here, but if he were, I’d be delighted. It always felt like Colin Powell was the voice of reason in that White House – and for now and God knows how many years – we don’t know for sure what happened in those meetings leading up to the IRAQ war, but this feels reasonable. Given who resigned and left the administration, this feels right. Wright’s plea for reason is amazing. His exchanges with Rumsfeld and Cheney and Condi… Classic.

Scott Glenn has the exact right level of sleaze for Donald Rumsfeld. There’s scenes where he just looks like a corporate overseer that just wants his way, and Glenn nails it.

Thandie Newton has come a long way since I initially despised her in BELOVED, but her Condoleezza Rice grates me exactly as much as the real thing. Every time she speaks, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. This is the exact sensation that I get when Condi speaks. Thandie’s makeup is truly amazing, as at no point did I find myself attracted to her, but rather – I felt complete disdain. HOWEVER, I’m betting if you’re a fan of Condi, you’ll love her.

The last performer that I want to comment on is Elizabeth Banks’ LAURA BUSH. This is a statement I’m sending directly to Oliver Stone. How on Earth could you cast such an incredibly hot, lovable, worshipable actress that I have such an incredible thing for… As Laura Bush. Every moment she was on screen, I was ogling her. But she was W’s wife and that felt INCREDIBLY WRONG. Elizabeth Banks doesn’t have that ballpeen hammer to the forehead look that Laura has… instead, she has that – “I’m the most adorable and lovable femme to ever rule the Earth-look!” That said, she’s amazing in the film.

The film is fantastic. The whole thing. Oliver Stone did what I feel many of us “liberals” could never really do – and that’s make a very even handed biopic on George W Bush, one that shows his merits & his shortcomings. A tragic story of a would be hero, a would be great man. In that respect, W reminds me of ED WOOD - a biopic of a famous mediocre talent that probably never should have held a camera, like that, here you see how Bush became the man he has inflicted upon all of us, these last 8 years.

Oliver Stone has made a truly great film.