W.

You may think this is the film you know most about on the schedule without seeing it or reading this. Think again.

George W. Bush (Brolin), nicked-named W (pronuced Dub-ya in Texan accent), is the son of George H.W. Bush (Cromwell), the 41st US president. The film starts at the time when W was still a trouble-making, good-for-nothing, while his dad was still a congressman. It does not seem to be the case that W is going to follow his father's footstep. That is set to change when he decides to run for congressman in 1978 and you probably know the rest.

“W.” is an interesting biopic of a living person based on true story, after the hugely successful “The Queen”. But this is different as Bush is more controversial and less respected. Director Oliver Stone manages to reflect the not-so-distant history onto a personal level and that is why biopics are so interesting and difficult to make. This is a hugely ambitious project and the time span of the film is about 40 years.

Josh Brolin's performance as W is simply magnificent. He manages to master the distinguished accent while not falling into an impersonation act with the make up. The film does make people feel that W is a human after all and this means that this is a good biopic. It is a provocative and engaging watch.

You may not like the particular president but you must admit that this is part of our history regardless of how controversial he is. Why not just take a different view and see this film?

Jeffrey Choi