USA/FILE: Josh Brolin, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss and many more attend the premier of the new Oliver Stone film about U.S. President George W. Bush

Record ID: 219945

  • Title: USA/FILE: Josh Brolin, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss and many more attend the premier of the new Oliver Stone film about U.S. President George W. Bush
  • Date: 15th October 2008
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 14, 2008) (REUTERS) ZIEGFELD THEATER EXTERIOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSH BROLIN SAYING: "I feel that after all the research and all that, I understand why people voted for him. I think a vote of a fallible President, somebody they could identify with, and think maybe they could become President. One of them kind of thing. But it doesn't necessarily mean we voted in the best leader, and hopefully this time we will be able to educate ourselves more on the issues and more on the history of who these people are before we make a decision, and if we make the wrong decision to get out there and protest it." OLIVER STONE ON THE RED CARPET AT THE "W." PREMIERE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OLIVER STONE SAYING: "I think he's one of the worst Presidents frankly, but I think the movie will contribute an understanding of how he got to office, because people don't know. They don't know how he got to office. They don't know his determination, and frankly they don't know much about his Evangelicalism, but at the same time he changed the world. The world will never be the same." MEDIA AT THE "W." PREMIERE OLIVER STONE KISSING ELLEN BURSTYN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ELLEN BURSTYN, SAYING: "By the end of the film, I just felt sorry for him. I felt like he was so far in over his head. He was in a job that he really wasn't capable of doing. He got elected, I understand, because people felt that he was a nice guy. They liked him, they would invite him home to the barbecue and have a beer, and I think he demonstrated for us, once and for all, that's not what we need in the White House."
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2008 12:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVAACVC5L0CKEIC164XX4093RGPT
  • Story Text: Oliver Stone, Josh Brolin, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss, Thandie Newton and many more celebrities attend the world premiere of the new film "W." in New York City.
    "W." is about U.S. President George W. Bush, his life, his family, his struggles and his decision to invade Iraq.
    Oliver Stone and the all-star cast of "W." attend the world premiere of the new film about U.S. President George W. Bush in New York on Tuesday (October 14).
    The film "W." takes viewers through the life of the two-term U.S. President. The film explores George W. Bush's relationship with his parents, his wife, his faith and his decision to invade Iraq.
    With Josh Brolin in the title role, "W." is a rare movie about a sitting U.S. president. At the world premier of the film, Brolin said he hopes viewers will watch the movie and think about the past eight years as well as the future. Next moth, voters in the United States will elect either John McCain or Barack Omaba to become the next U.S. President.

    "I feel that after all the research and all that, I understand why people voted for him. I think a vote of a fallible President, somebody they could identify with, and think maybe they could become President. One of them kind of thing. But it doesn't necessarily mean we voted in the best leader, and hopefully this time we will be able to educate ourselves more on the issues and more on the history of who these people are before we make a decision, and if we make the wrong decision to get out there and protest it," Brolin said.
    Director, Oliver Stone says, although he as little regard for George W.
    Bush's administration, Stone said his movie offers a factual account of how Bush rose to power.
    "I think he's one of the worst Presidents frankly, but I think the movie will contribute an understanding of how he got to office, because people don't know. They don't know how he got to office. They don't know his determination, and frankly, they don't know much about his Evangelicalism, but at the same time he changed the world. The world will never be the same," Stone said.
    Filmmakers say "W." is based on books written by former White House insiders and is intended to ask questions about "a life misunderestimated" -- to borrow a famous "Bushism."
    Ellen Burstyn plays the part of W's mother, Barbara Bush, and also has strong opinions about the Bush presidency. "By the end of the film, I just felt sorry for him. I felt like he was so far in over his head. He was in a job that he really wasn't capable of doing. He got elected, I understand, because people felt that he was a nice guy. They liked him, they would invite him home to the barbecue and have a beer, and I think he demonstrated for us, once and for all, that's not what we need in the White House," Burstyn said.
    Elizabeth Banks portrays W's wife, Laura. Banks says most people like Laura Bush because she rises above partisan politics and fiercely protects her husband. "Her job as First Lady, she's always said is to maintain the health, the emotional and psychological health, of the President of the United States. See does a pretty good job at that," Banks said. When asked who would make a better First Lady in the upcoming election, Banks said, "I think Michelle Obama will make an amazing First Lady. I'm excited to see little kids in the White House again."

    "W." will be in U.S. theaters less than three weeks before Americans select their next president. Some say the timing of the film's release is a calculated move aimed at getting voters to reflect on the past eight years, an era actor Richard Dreyfuss has strong feelings about. "I think he's the most damaging President in the history of the county, and I think he's done more to wreck a reputation that has taken us two hundred years to establish of integrity, of being the good guy, than anyone else,"
    Dreyfuss said.
    British actress Thandie Newton plays the role of U.S. Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Newton says, "You know mistakes are made, but how we then learn from them and that's what I feel like this movie is. It's a way of putting out information so that an informed decision can be made by every single person who is voting, and obviously this isn't the only piece of information. There's endless, endless reels and pamphlets and newspaper articles, and I just think it's great a movie can also take part in focusing the country at this time. I think it's a wonderful opportunity."
    Oliver Stone makes Bush's relationship with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, the dramatic centerpiece of "W."
    Veteran actor James Cromwell plays the role of W's father and offers some insight into the relationship between the father and son.
    "I have seen his father snub him in public and seen the sense of bereavement on his face.
    Of course you compensate, and you over-compensate. It's human. It's not condemnatory to show this. It's human, but what you do with it when it involves taking a country to war, when it involves subverting the Constitution and The Bill of Rights, when it involves allowing it to come to the mess that we are going through in the economy, there are no excuses whatsoever. The man was out of his depth, is out of his depth, and should never have been President in the first place, and would not have been if every vote counted, and the Supreme Court minded their own business," Cromwell said.

    "W." opens in the United States on Friday, October 17.
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