BIOPIC
(15) 129min on
The American aphorism that suggests ‘any boy can grow up to be president’ is blandly dramatised in Oliver Stone’s outrageously timed film, the first biopic to consider the life story of a sitting US president. Fresh from his deadly pursuit by Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men, Josh Brolin steps into the gap wisely left by the departing Christian Bale to play George W Bush Jr, a hard- drinking fratboy who, after flirtations with sporting goods and the oil business, somehow ends up leading his country into a war to appease his father, played by James Cromwell.
Restlessly flicking back and forward from Bush’s first term in office to pivotal moments in his upbringing, Stone and screenwriter Stanley Weiser have constructed an entertaining but toothless account of George W Bush as president, cowboy and man. Never stooping to imitation, Brolin gives an admirably charismatic portrayal of Bush, but Stone’s
44 THE LIST :rr, f):,t Nrj. met-r
serio-comic tone is coarsened by the opportunistic casting of guest stars, with Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, an impish turn from Toby Jones as Karl Rove and a trite one from Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice. Such broad strokes ultimately detract from Stone’s attempts to get under the skin of his subject, not helped by his uncharacteristically coy skirting around issues such as Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks. Crucially Stone also presents Bush’s decision to go to war as motivated by his belief that chemical weapons were involved, fashioning W. as a half-hearted apology. Stone’s take on George W never rises to the controversial heights of his other political forays in JFK or Nixon. And despite Brolin’s powerhouse performance, Stone’s puffed-up biopic eventually abandons beating around the Bush to give birth to a timid mouse of an idea that most satirists would find too obvious for a satirical newspaper cartoon never mind a two hour plus movie; all Junior ever wanted was a little sugar from daddy. (Eddie Harrison) I General relet’ise from PM 7 Nov. See profile rn listings.
/\()ll()l\l lllSlOltY THE WARLORDS (15) 112min COO
DRAMA COMEDY EASY VIRTUE (PG) 96min .0
England, the 1920s. Dashing young socialite John Whittaker (Ben Barnesi returns to hrs ancestral prle with his spunky new American Wife Larita (Jessica Biel). A hotbed of dysfunction. xenophobia and bankruptcy the family home contains his highly—strung mother (Kristin Scott Thomas). his socially removed father (Colin Firth) and his two bitchy sisters (Kimberley Nixon and Katherine Parkinson). It's not long before all hell breaks loose.
Writer director Stephan The Adventures of Prrscr/lt'i, Queen of tlre Desert Elliott's very loose adaptation of Noel Coward's little known 1924 play is a disappointing affair. Coward's savage attack of high society values and the general hypocrisies of the age are supplanted by something more forced and uncertain in tone. The film's rnrguitres are amplified by a turgidly slow first half and a toe curling soundtrack. which consists of modern pop songs. sung in a camp Cole Porter style. Still some great orie~lrners survrve and a uniformly solid cast try their best to bring some colour to this portrait of the ‘petrrfied circus" of family life. but Fllrott's direction is too flat and erratic. If nothing else Easv Virtue is a masterclass in how to make a laugh» tree Coward adaptation. (Paul Dale) I General release from Fri ‘/ Nov.
.let l..'s l'lESk‘,’ decision to trust his 2 ctrng rather than his action skriis pays off in this and lélth century Chinese (:rvrl war drama that is actuath deservrng of that ever- used (El)lll‘.(il ‘ep;<:'. lakrng real historical events as a bouncrngvoff pornt, veteran
‘l har genre filmmake" Peter Chan succeeds rn telling a gripping tale rather than rust giving a hrstciy lesson. lle ,‘udges the balance of stunning. brutal battle sequences and intense melodrama to great effect. Beginning With Us commander l’ang emerging as the sole sur‘x'vor' from a massacre. the decade spannng story forews Pang's ;()trr‘riey back to leadership as he j()lllS outcast Generals Zhao (Andy tau; and Jrang flakele Kaneshrr‘or and they raise an unstoppable army But as the political power of the three-person brotherhood" increases. so too do ter‘sror‘s Within the friendship. wrth devastating conseriuences.
Setting 'llie ll/t'rr'lorrls apart from other“ s:mr:ar efforts (this year's Mongol berng a recent exampler is its successful integration of character :le\./e|or>merit and acton. l—ach set piece. from an impressively staged ambush sequence to an enormous pitched battle. serves: the story and Chart is careful not to r‘epea'. himself for the sake of redundant spectacle.
While begrnnmg with a few too many plot strands for its own good 7 a love triangle element !f§l)£llll(ltlittll‘ytlllli(311(?f§f;£tl’\' - the films central focus becomes the liltl‘.tlll.r()tlt; relat onshrp betweer‘ the three generals. and builds to a power‘rilit tragic conclusion. (Paul Gallagher;
I Selected release from lrr f Nov.