W.

When Oliver Stone tackled the story of Richard Nixon, the result was operatic. But Nixon's rise and fall was Shakespearean. Stone's rendition of George W. Bush's life is more like an extended Saturday Night Live skit, and it doesn't have an ending. It is, pretty much, a complete mess.

I knew I was in for rough sledding from the very first scene of dialogue. It's a meeting in the Oval Office in which a speechwriter and the important cabinet members come up with the term "axis of evil." Each character gets a closeup, and is referred to by name in case we didn't get who they are supposed to be. All of the performers are made to look and sound their real-life counterparts, so I can imagine the intent is for moviegoers to be "aahing" as they recognize each person--"ah, that's Paul Wolfowitz!" It's very much like an SNL skit, except it's not remotely funny, and instead is full of clumsy exposition.

The film pretty much continues like this for two more hours. The structure is set up as Bush deals with the Iraq war--when to start it, and where those pesky WMDs are. Periodically we go back to his dissolute youth, a drunken frat boy who was a constant disappointment to his dignified father, and then his Christian conversion and political rise. But the problem is that George W. Bush is an elusive character, and Stone and his writer, Stanley Weiser can only create him from around the edges--there's no center. That may be just the way it is--it seems clear from this liberal Democrat's view that Bush is pretty much "all hat and no cattle," and is a blank slate that was filled in by Karl Rove and others. But this isn't the Karl Rove story, much to the detriment of the film.

What, exactly, was Oliver Stone trying to say? What is the spine of this film, the compelling reason for its existence? I don't think it's any revelation that Bush is an intellectually flaccid man who mangles the English language and has a myopic world view. It's also not news that the invasion of Iraq was based on a lie--there were no WMDs, and aside from Colin Powell, the administration arrogantly blundered into a needless war. When this film is interesting is when it boils down to its essence--Bush the younger has lived his whole life to try to prove his mettle to his father.

The best scenes in the film involve W. with his father, ably played by James Cromwell, who doesn't try to mimic the 41st President as much as embody him. I found Cromwell's performance the strongest in the film, but I also admired Ellen Burstyn, wickedly intoning Barbara Bush, who W. takes after. As a young man, W. wandered job to job and seemed like he wouldn't amount to anything, but somewhere along the line he turned it around and ended up Governor of Texas (when he tells his parents this they laugh it off, as his mother tells him he'll never beat Ann Richards). But missing from the film is the key to what changed him. We see him looking for guidance from a Christian minister, but I was still wondering what whipped into him shape. Perhaps their is no answer.

Josh Brolin is W., and I must say he's a splendid mimic. You could close your eyes and not tell the difference in the voices. He has all the mannerisms down pat. But Brolin has an uphill climb to make this more than a keen impersonation. The script doesn't give him much to work with, and he suffers for it. Elizabeth Banks, as Laura, doesn't have much to do, either (the film shows when they meet, and he boorishly shoves a hamburger in his mouth while he talks. It's hard to know what she saw in him).

The other celebrity impersonators fare pretty well. Thandie Newton really nails Condoleezza Rice, and Richard Dreyfuss captures the black heart of Dick Cheney. Jeffrey Wright is also good as Colin Powell, who is the only character in the film who comes off as halfway heroic.

Stone's direction is straight-forward, without the bells and whistles I expect from him. The only indulgence he goes for is having Bush in a fantasy where he prowls the outfield of his beloved Texas Rangers, in front of empty seats but acting as if he is basking in the glow of a huge crowd. There is also an effective dream sequence with the Bushes elder and younger sparring in the Oval Office. Otherwise, the direction is fairly flat, almost like a TV movie.

Though the film is long, it ends abruptly, perhaps because the entire Bush story hasn't been told yet. The crowd I was with seemed startled to see "The End" appear on the screen, and almost reluctantly reached for their coats. Despite the abruptness, though, I was more than ready for this film to be over.