I’ve actually been looking forward to Oliver Stone’s W since it was announced. I know, I know, Stone’s last several outings, at least, have been just awful. For some reason I smell a comeback with this one. After all, the last two movies of his that I’ve enjoyed, other than Natural Born Killers, have been Presidential biopic flicks–JFK and Nixon. The Oval Office just seems to bring the best out of Oliver.

W is going to be different, though. Sure, like his other two Presidential movies, it will be controversial, there’s no arguing that. But, unlike Kennedy and Nixon, George W. Bush is an extremely unpopular President. He’s also the current President. It will be a difficult movie to pull off right now. Half the country, if not more, will want him portrayed as an ex-drunk screw-up turned war criminal President, while the rest of the country will just hate on the film–like they did Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11–and try to paint it as just another example of the liberal media and its propaganda. This film could also have an effect on the upcoming Presidential election, which is about a month after its release. I do think Fahrenheit 9/11 had some effect on the last election, although obviously not enough to make the difference.

Normally, I wouldn’t trust Stone. But after watching the film’s trailer (below) and seeing that Stanley Weiser (Wall Street) is the scribe, I’m on board. Regardless if W is any good, it will be a groundbreaking project. Biopics are hardly ever done when its subject is still in the public spotlight like this. Sure, there was The Queen, but there is still something about this that is unprecedented. I definitely don’t envy Weiser for getting to pen this project. Then again, with a President this unpopular, won’t just making him look bad make Weiser look good? We’ll see.

Enjoy the trailer, compliments of Lions Gate:

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