!! YMMV for the film:

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Arguably the whole point of the film—was President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, a TragicVillain, 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?
* 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, doubtless contributing to the film's failure to recoup its budget and marketing costs.
* AwardSnub:
** Creator/JoshBrolin received little to no awards attention for his performance as Bush.
** There's also those who felt that Creator/RichardDreyfuss' performance as UsefulNotes/DickCheney was more worthy of a film than Bush himself.
* GeniusBonus: In the press conference scene, Bush's answer to the reporter's question about his place in history ("History? In history, we'll all be dead.") is a slight paraphrase of John Maynard Keynes' quote about long-run economic stabilization: "In the long run, we are all dead." [[note]] A key tenet of classical economics is that it's futile and dangerous for the government to directly intervene in an economic crisis, since the forces of the free market will inevitably stabilize any crisis in the long run. Much of Keynesian economics is a rebuke of this viewpoint, as Keynes felt that the short-term effects of economic crises could still do irreparable damage to ordinary people who wouldn't be around to see things stabilize in the far future.[[/note]] As a graduate of Harvard Business School, Bush would have to be intimately familiar with Keynesian economics, so the remark is quite in-character for him.
* HarsherInHindsight: Creator/JoshBrolin plays George W. Bush, who had a drinking problem throughout part of his adult life, which is touched upon in the film. On New Year's Eve 2013, Brolin was arrested for public intoxication and later entered rehab.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** An 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 his campaign 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 when you consider that the reason most people feel Jeb failed is because [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump a certain other candidate]] constantly berated Jeb and would't let him get a word in during debates.
** Creator/ChristianBale was the first choice to play W. Bush but ultimately dropped out. Ten years later, he would play Bush's Vice President UsefulNotes/DickCheney in ''Film/{{Vice|2018}}''.
** Karl Rove is played by Toby Jones, which essentially means [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Thanos is running for president with the help of Arnim Zola]].
* QuestionableCasting: It's perhaps as much a failure of the make-up and hairstyling as much as anything else, but Creator/IoanGruffudd in this movie looks absolutely ''nothing'' like the real-life UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. Reportedly, the appearance of Blair in the film's trailer was met with derisive laugher in many UK cinemas.
* {{Squick}}: The scene where George W. Bush is casually having a conversation with Laura, while also being shown sitting on the toilet and pulling the toilet paper. It might be intended to show how they don't have anything to hide from each other, but ''still''...
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In spite of being a biopic of George W. Bush's life and presidency, the film skips over the Florida recount, the September 11th attacks, and Hurricane Katrina in favor of just focusing on the Iraq War. Nevermind the fact that the reason America even invaded Iraq ''was inspired by the September 11th attacks''.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The portrayal of Jeb Bush as the competent brother that makes W. feel inadequate seems rather odd after his failed 2016 presidential campaign led to Jeb's public image becoming that of a lightweight who quickly petered out of being a serious contender for the presidency and whatever attention he did receive during the race was mostly coasting on his family name.

!! YMMV for the New Campaign Trail mod:
* MemeticMutation: Poppy still isn't proud. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The "W." mod portrays UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush as a WellDoneSonGuy who [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption can never win his father's approval]], even having a purposefully {{Unwinnable}} achievement for doing just that. Posts detailing successful playthroughs tend to have fans jokingly commenting that Poppy is ''still'' disappointed.[[/labelnote]]
* TearJerker:
** UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush can do a lot of morally reprehensible stuff in W., with sparking [[WarIsHell brutal and bloody]] wars that claim thousands of lives being among his worst acts. Yet suffering a landslide loss to the Democratic candidate has the Texas cowboy become a EmptyShell of his former bubbly self and by the end of the phone call with Poppy ([[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech who wastes no time ripping into his son for all his failures]]) is sobbing his eyes out.
-->''George stood in silence looking at the phone. In his mind, he saw himself crying. He saw himself shattering the phone against the wall. He saw himself calling back and screaming into his father's ear.''
** Investigating Al Gore's personal life in W. can lead to the discovery that his 2000 loss to Bush and the subsequent divorce with his wife have taken a severe toll on him, to the point that he nows spends most of his free time [[TheAloner alone and away from his friends]].
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