So far, there are only a few actors officially attached to Oliver Stone's W., the epic biopic about our current commander-in-chief. Josh Brolin was cast as President George W. Bush back in January, then recently Elizabeth Banks was chosen as his wife, First Lady Laura Bush, and last week James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn were locked into the roles of former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, respectively. Unofficial casting bites, though, include a lot of other big name actors. Jeffrey Wright is reportedly in negotiations to play Colin Powell, Tommy Lee Jones is supposedly being sought for Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Duvall has been rumored to be the choice for Vice President Dick Cheney and now both Paul Giamatti and Toby Jones are being named as potentials for the part of Karl Rove (who Giamatti may have already channeled for his character in Shoot 'Em Up).Meanwhile, over at MTV's Movies Blog, there are some names being suggested for other roles that might be in the film: Angela Bassett for Condoleeza Rice; Sam Waterston for Paul Wolfowitz; Ana Gasteyer for Katherine Harris; and Giamatti for Cheney -- but if he's in fact playing Rove, they suggest David Huddleston (aka the title character in The Big Lebowski). The blog is asking for readers to come up with other ideas, but so far the only commenter has mentioned Jamie Lynn Spears for both Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara ("like Lidnsey [sic] Lohan did in 'Parent Trap'"). Personally, I think an SNL alum like Gasteyer would only be cast in a Bush biopic directed by Andrew Fleming (she was in Dick, after all), but then again, I never would have predicted Banks to play Laura, either.
So, who do you think should play someone associated with W's life? Chime in for both the Stone and the non-existent Fleming versions (recall the difference between Stone's Nixon, Anthony Hopkins, and Fleming's Dick, Dan Hedaya; Stone's Haldeman, James Woods, and Fleming's, Dave Foley; Stone's Kissinger, Paul Sorvino, and Fleming's, Saul Rubinek; Stone's Liddy, John Diehl, and Fleming's, Harry Shearer; etc.). I'm still waiting for a good idea for who should play Ashcroft.
1. Assuming that the media is right only half the time, what is it about W. that would make one believe a movie about his life would be even remotely interesting? If he is indeed the dullard and half-wit they claim him to be, why would watching a movie about it be edifying? Unless of course, this is more propaganda from Hollywood, in which case this movie could have a secondary effect it did not intend: to showcase the ineptitude of the Hollywood left to latch on to mainstream America's interests.
Or, to quote President Bush himself:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says fool me once - shame on- shame on you. You fool me, you can't get fooled again."
Oliver Stone would probably prefer this one, as it fits his style much better:
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
Posted at 2:21PM on Mar 31st 2008 by Philip