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George Walker Bush is the titular villainous main protagonist of the 2008 biographical film W.. He is a fictionalized version of the real-life George W. Bush, who become of the President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009.
He was portrayed by Josh Brolin, who also played Derek Bates in Into the Blue, Dr. William Block in Planet Terror, Dan White in Milk, Tom Chaney in the 2010 True Grit film, Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Cable in Deadpool 2.
Biography[]
In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush and his cabinet members are preparing to wage war against Iraq and Afghanistan. The so-called axis of evil must feel the retaliation of the USA – but a reason for war is not found. Bush fears failure and remembers his life. Flashbacks tell the story of the young W., who once had to ask his father, Texas Congressman George Bush, for bail from a prison cell. W. has always been considered a friend of alcohol and girls. He is repeatedly reminded by his father that, unlike his brother Jeb, he is a disappointment for the Bush dynasty. Nevertheless, the father protects the son. Despite all this, his professional career seems to fail again and again, such as when he runs for a congressional seat for Texas' 19th federal district, but has to admit defeat to Democrat Kent Hance. Bush can hardly cope with the defeat and would rather not return to politics; he becomes a co-owner of a baseball team. He meets the young Laura Welch, whom he marries and with whom he has two daughters. The father, now U.S. vice president, asks his son to support him in the 1988 presidential election campaign. After winning the campaign, however, Bush junior fears that he will disappear into oblivion again, since no son of a US president has ever stepped out of his father's shadow. Laura reminds him of John Quincy Adams in vain. In 1991, Bush senior led the United States into a war against Iraq at the head of a grand coalition, but on the advice of Dick Cheney and Colin Powell, he shied away from finally removing Saddam Hussein from power. In November 1992, he was defeated by Democrat Bill Clinton in the presidential election. Bush junior wants to fight against this ignominy and runs for governor of Texas, although his parents do not trust him to do so. However, W. has already experienced a change in 1986 – he is a "born-again Christian" and has stopped drinking. He was coached for the election campaign by Karl Rove, whom he called only his "genius", became governor in 1994, thus gaining his father's respect for the first time and was also able to trump his brother Jeb Bush, whose attempt to become governor of Florida initially failed. In a conversation with his religious mentor, the preacher Earle Hudd, W. tells him that God has given him the task of seeking the office of U.S. president. He was chosen for this purpose. In fact, he defeated Democrat Al Gore in the November 2000 election. Bush's cabinet, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, claimed in 2002 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. There is no evidence of this and the CIA warns. Documents according to which Saddam Hussein produced weapons in secret facilities are cleverly manipulated and presented to the United Nations. There is no exit scenario from Iraq; Cheney states in the cabinet that they intend to stay there. In a secret meeting with his staff, Cheney makes it clear that the U.S. really wants to gain influence over Iraq's oil reserves, and that after the fall of Iraq, Iran will also be brought under U.S. control. Nothing would stand in the way of American world domination, an "empire". Without a UN mandate and with the help of the coalition of the willing, the US launched a war in Iraq in 2003. After Bush publicly declares victory on an aircraft carrier and is applauded for it, the film outlines the dramatic deterioration of the situation in Iraq in the following months with real news images. The film ends with the press conference in 2004 at which Bush reacts helplessly and helplessly to a journalist's question about "his biggest mistakes after September 11 and what lessons he learned from them." The surprised stammering Bush finds no words and finally indirectly admits to having made mistakes in the implementation of the Iraq war. He did not disappoint his father and accomplished what he failed to do in the First Gulf War – to overthrow Saddam Hussein – but at least in the film excerpt Bush is not sure of his father's recognition until the end. The last scene shows a dream of the president: he thinks he can catch a decisive ball in baseball, but it has suddenly disappeared, and Bush desperately searches the empty sky.
Trivia[]
- According to director Oliver Stone, he first cast Christian Bale in the titular role, who then spent months researching for the titular role, but dropped out to difficulties and that he was not satisfied with the prosthetic makeup tests for his role as George W. Bush, Stone later said of his departure "Christian's a very methodical actor and he has to have the makeup thing work for him." until Brolin was cast and took over Bale's lead role in the film.
- W. and Milk, both of which Josh Brolin starred in as villains, came out in 2008.