Adam Weinberg
Goldwater Republican
I enjoyed it. I'm still processing it to get a sense for what the film is about at its core, but here are some of my thoughts.
- I feel for W. (the character, and maybe the President), but I also think he's an opportunist using his position moreso for self-fulfillment rather than service of his people. Not to mention the fact that he is out of his league. He's not stupid, actually. I don't think so, anyway. He's actually pretty gifted at certain things despite being somewhat immature, he's just not a complex thinker and that puts him at a serious disadvantage to sort through situations that require a delicate touch and a stable hand.
- There is a definite theme in the film about the danger of religious fervor seeping into the decision-making of a person (or persons as some scenes depict the use of the religious voting bloc to win elections) especially when it relates to the lives of other people.
- The scope of the film is certainly not as great as JFK (and I know story-wise that's apples to oranges since this is more personal) but that makes me wonder if the part of the story about the war really has as much impact as Stone intended.
- I don't think any of the characters are really evil (Maybe Rove comes off like that a little, but I think that's just him doing his job and enjoying it), and I don't believe necessarily--and I would welcome discussion on this--that the people they represent are evil. Perhaps there are evil actions and consequences from the choices they make. But I don't think they necessarily make those choices with evil intent as much as they either ideologically, emotionally, or professional want something from their lives that compel them to take on these goals for themselves. I guess at the end, this is a matter of character motivation, which is a pretty basic dramatic thing we can talk about all day and whether the motivations are clear.
Overall, I loved watching the depictions of these people we've come to know. I liked seeing their quirks reiterated on screen. It really made up for the fact when someone couldn't look "exactly" like their real-life counterpart, and in some cases made you forget that they're not them.
Not sure the story is terribly effective, but it is terribly interesting to watch through. As an aside, I'm not sure I get everything about the way Colin Powell is depicted in the film, and he appears to be the Mr. X of the film if it has one so to speak. In fact, that may deserve its own film.
Anyway, I'll stop there.
- I feel for W. (the character, and maybe the President), but I also think he's an opportunist using his position moreso for self-fulfillment rather than service of his people. Not to mention the fact that he is out of his league. He's not stupid, actually. I don't think so, anyway. He's actually pretty gifted at certain things despite being somewhat immature, he's just not a complex thinker and that puts him at a serious disadvantage to sort through situations that require a delicate touch and a stable hand.
- There is a definite theme in the film about the danger of religious fervor seeping into the decision-making of a person (or persons as some scenes depict the use of the religious voting bloc to win elections) especially when it relates to the lives of other people.
- The scope of the film is certainly not as great as JFK (and I know story-wise that's apples to oranges since this is more personal) but that makes me wonder if the part of the story about the war really has as much impact as Stone intended.
- I don't think any of the characters are really evil (Maybe Rove comes off like that a little, but I think that's just him doing his job and enjoying it), and I don't believe necessarily--and I would welcome discussion on this--that the people they represent are evil. Perhaps there are evil actions and consequences from the choices they make. But I don't think they necessarily make those choices with evil intent as much as they either ideologically, emotionally, or professional want something from their lives that compel them to take on these goals for themselves. I guess at the end, this is a matter of character motivation, which is a pretty basic dramatic thing we can talk about all day and whether the motivations are clear.
Overall, I loved watching the depictions of these people we've come to know. I liked seeing their quirks reiterated on screen. It really made up for the fact when someone couldn't look "exactly" like their real-life counterpart, and in some cases made you forget that they're not them.
Not sure the story is terribly effective, but it is terribly interesting to watch through. As an aside, I'm not sure I get everything about the way Colin Powell is depicted in the film, and he appears to be the Mr. X of the film if it has one so to speak. In fact, that may deserve its own film.
Anyway, I'll stop there.
