History YMMV / W

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: ''W'' was always bound to be a hard sell, given that it was a {{biopic}} about a President of the United States made while [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush that president]] ''was still in office''. But once it became clear what kind of biopic it really was, it became much more alienating. In a nutshell: the film portrays George W. Bush's presidency as a disaster, but it portrays Bush himself as a well-meaning simpleton who got into politics [[WellDoneSonGuy to gain his father's approval]], ultimately leading to him starting a war for misguided personal reasons. Bush's conservative supporters generally avoided the movie because they found it too critical of him, while many of his liberal detractors avoided it because they thought it was too soft on him.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise ''W'' was always bound to be a hard sell, given that it was a {{biopic}} about a President of the United States made while [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush that president]] ''was still in office''. But once it became clear what kind of biopic it really was, it became much more alienating. In a nutshell: the film portrays George W. Bush's presidency as a disaster, but it portrays Bush himself as a well-meaning simpleton who got into politics [[WellDoneSonGuy to gain his father's approval]], ultimately leading to him starting a war for misguided personal reasons. Bush's conservative supporters generally avoided the movie because they found it too critical of him, while many of his liberal detractors avoided it because they thought it was too soft on him.

* {{Squick}}: The scene where W is shown sitting on the toilet and pulling the toilet paper. Did they really have to show THAT?
** Yes. At no point was it acknowledged by either he or Laura that he was taking a dump. It was instead intended to show how comfortable they are with each other.

* Creator/ChristianBale was the first choice to play W. Bush but ultimately dropped out. 10 years later, he would play Bush's Vice President Dick Cheney in ''Vice''.

** Yes. At no point was it acknowledged by either he or Laura that he was taking a dump. It was instead intended to show how comfortable they are with each other.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Arguably the whole point of the film - was President George W. Bush a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who was TooDumbToLive, a misguided but well intentioned WellDoneSonGuy who just wanted to atone for his past mistakes and do right by his family's legacy, or just an average guy who was in way over his head and couldn't quite comprehend what he'd gotten himself into? Or some combination of these, or something else altogether?
* AwardSnub: Brolin recieved little to no awards attention for his performance as Bush.
** There's also those who felt that Richard Dreyfus' performance as Dick Cheney was more worthy of a film than Bush himself.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Arguably the whole point of the film - was President George W. Bush a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who was TooDumbToLive, a misguided but well intentioned son-of-a-WellDoneSonGuy who just wanted to atone for his past mistakes and do right by his family's legacy, or just an average guy who was in way over his head and couldn't quite comprehend what he'd gotten himself into? Or some combination of these, or something else altogether?

** JoshBrolin's father JamesBrolin, a passionate Democrat, was controversially cast as UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in a 2003 miniseries.

** Another example that crosses over with HarsherInHindsight: The suggestion that Jeb was the true heir to the Bush dynasty, a dynasty that was destroyed by George, easily falls into both these categories after Jeb's disastrous 2016 Presidential Campaign. And what was Jeb's last ditch effort to save himself in South Carolina? Getting George to campaign for him. The scene in which another Congressional candidate berates George and won't let him get a word in is likewise hilarious [[Creator/DonaldTrump when you consider why most people feel Jeb failed.]]

** Ari Fleischer, the White House Press Secretary, is played by Rob Corddry, of ''TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'' fame.

** Another example that crosses over with HarsherInHindsight: The suggestion that Jeb was the true heir to the Bush dynasty, a dynasty that was destroyed by George, easily falls into both these categories after Jeb's disastrous 2016 Presidential Campaign. And what was Jeb's last ditch effort to save himself in South Carolina? Getting George to campaign for him. The scene in which another Congressional candidate berates George and won't let him get a word in is likewise hilarious [[DonaldTrump when you consider why most people feel Jeb failed.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: In a 2004 interview with Magazine/{{Playboy}}, when asked if he would ever make a film about UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, Creator/OliverStone said this:

* HilariousInHindsight: In a 2004 interview with {{Playboy}}, when asked if he would ever make a film about UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, Creator/OliverStone said this:

** The philosopher [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avital_Ronell Avital Ronell]] was in no doubt about the answer, when she prominently featured Bush and his legacy in her 2012 [[https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=isbn:0252036646&gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=dHSZVOuyKpfjaoHggcAG book]] ''Loser Sons: Politics & Authority''.[[note]]To compound the slight, another "loser son" featured in the book is UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden.[[/note]]

** JoshBrolin's father JamesBrolin, a passionate Democrat, was controversally cast as UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in a 2003 miniseries.

** Yes. At no point was it acknowledged by either he or Laura that he was taking a dump. It was instead intended to show how confortable they are with each other.

** JoshBrolin's father JamesBrolin, a passionate Democrat, was controversally cast as RonaldReagan in a 2003 miniseries.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Arguably the whole point of the film - was President George W. Bush a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who was TooDumbToLive, a misguided but well intentioned WellDoneSonGuy who just wanted to atone for his past mistakes and do right by his family's legacy, or just an average guy who was in way over his head and couldn't quite comprehend what he'd gotten himself into? Or some combination of these, or something else altogether?

* HilariousInHindsight: In a 2004 interview with {{Playboy}}, when asked if he would ever make a film about GeorgeWBush, Creator/OliverStone said this:

* SquIck: The scene where W is shown sitting on the toilet and pulling the toilet paper. Did they really have to show THAT?

* SquIck: The scene where W is shown sitting on the toilet and pulling the toilet paper. Did they really have to show THAT?

* HarsherInHindsight: JoshBrolin plays George W Bush, who had a drinking problem throughout part of his adult life. On New Year's Eve 2013 JoshBrolin was arrested for a public intoxication.

* AlternativeCharacterIntepretation: Arguably the whole point of the film - was President George W. Bush a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who was TooDumbToLive, a misguided but well intentioned WellDoneSonGuy who just wanted to atone for his past mistakes and do right by his family's legacy, or just an average guy who was in way over his head and couldn't quite comprehend what he'd gotten himself into? Or some combination of these, or something else altogether?

* Squick: The scene where W is shown sitting on the toilet and pulling the toilet paper. Did they really have to show THAT?

** Ari Fleischer, the White House Press Secretary, is played by Rob Corddry, of ''TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'' fame.

* HilariousInHindsight: In a 2004 interview with {{Playboy}}, when asked if he would ever make a film about GeorgeWBush, OliverStone said this: