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YMMV / W.

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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Arguably the whole point of the film—was President George W. Bush a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, a Tragic Villain, a misguided but well intentioned "Well Done, Son" Guy 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?
  • Audience-Alienating Premise: W. was always bound to be a hard sell, given that it was a biopic about a President of the United States made while 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 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.
  • Award Snub:
    • Josh Brolin received little to no awards attention for his performance as Bush.
    • There's also those who felt that Richard Dreyfuss' performance as Dick Cheney was more worthy of a film than Bush himself.
  • Genius Bonus: 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  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.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Josh Brolin 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.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • An example that crosses over with Harsher in Hindsight: 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 a certain other candidate constantly berated Jeb and would't let him get a word in during debates.
    • Christian Bale was the first choice to play W. Bush but ultimately dropped out. Ten years later, he would play Bush's Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice.
    • Karl Rove is played by Toby Jones, which essentially means Thanos is running for president with the help of Arnim Zola.
  • Questionable Casting: It's perhaps as much a failure of the make-up and hairstyling as much as anything else, but Ioan Gruffudd in this movie looks absolutely nothing like the real-life Tony Blair. 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...
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: 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.
  • Unintentional Period Piece: 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.


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