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One thing is certain, it will not satisfy anyone on the far left or the far right.  Beginning with the film, World Trade Center Stone seems to have carefully walked toward the political center in his portrayals of recent events.  The left will expect a condemnation of Bush's motives for the war in Iraq rather tha the empathetic portrait presented in the film.  The right will most likely prefer more of Stone's sometimes cartoonish figures of history.  Rather, W portrays a man of clear views, idealistic patriotism and a tragic hero who never grasps the political forces that undermine his vision of continuing a Reagan-like America to a place of peace and prosperity.  

What we're offered is the complexity of one man's journey to power and what motivates him.  According to the film, key to understanding this is his relationship to his father, George Bush,   well portrayed by actor, James Cromwell, a cautious leader and a distant father who criticizes directly, but only offers indirect praise through cards and letters.   
 
We are also introduced to the man we would most like to have a beer with, the good old West Texas boy, down to earth, but absent of conventional manners.  The idealist dimension of this character drives him into the final disillusionment of what was expected to be a short invasion of Iraq, instead becoming a war of complexity and uncertain outcomes.
 
By the end of the film, its all out of his hands and as Colin Powell predicts in a cabinet meeting, the war has defined his administration.  To illustrate the extent of the President's frustration, when it was discovered the war was based on faulty intelligence, he throws his hand in the air and shouts, "Who's in charge here?"    The answer is obvious to everyone in the room but the man in charge.   
 
With all of the flaws in the history of this administration, its hard not to sympathize with the man's struggle to better himself and become what he hopes will be remembered as a great leader.   In this the film has given us a conflict between the corruption of political power and the hopefulness of the American dream.  Like the current times, its hard to say which will win this war.  To this extent, Bush symbolizes the battleground where this conflict is fought.  
 
A brushed over and shallow portrayal of Bush' conversion to Christianity shows him meeting with a fictional pastor who merely declares Bush is 'born-again.'   Only a false version of an external experience is portrayed.  It lacks even a glimpse of understanding the effect this had on transforming Bush from good-old-boy to world leader.  Suddenly he isn't drinking to excess.  In the blink of an eye, he's committed to success.   The connection is never made.   
 
Josh Brolin gives another brilliant performance.  At times he's over the top.  Always eating sandwiches, you have to wonder if he'll ever close his mouth while he talks.  But, at the heart is the always earnest desire of a man who ultimately is motivated to seek the approval of a distant, critical father.  This becomes his tragic flaw leading him to pursue an uncertain war.     Brolin gives us that sense and provides us with an empathetic edge to his subject.  Toby Jones and Richard Dreyfus as Karl Rove and Dick Cheney give one dimensional, but skilled portrayals of the power brokers behind the administration.  
 
W gives an initial, raw and biased perspective of a history yet to be written.  However, Stone in both his script and direction, has presented a compassionate liberalism  in what may have been his own discovery of the difficult journey of George W. Bush.  While it doesn't always appear he admires his subject, he certainly identifies with him.  The success of this film is determined by how often he brings the audience to this same identification.  
 
Terry Roland 
http://www.trippinthesixties.com