W.

RYAN: We learned very little new information about President George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s new movie, “W.” But what’s most upsetting to me is that someone with a C average in college and a hard partying youth can become president of our great nation.

CAROLINE: Well that’s hardly news. I was most taken aback that all it takes is a powerful father to make you the governor of Texas. I knew some about W.’s background but I don’t know that I fully realized how much nepotism was involved.

RYAN: I guess government is just like Hollywood, except less pretty.

CAROLINE: [laughs’]

RYAN: The movie just jumps back and forth between reenactments of things that happened recently and things in his past, but it’s not very enlightening. That saddens me.

CAROLINE: I must admit that I’ve not seen any of Ollie Stone’s other presidential films, but in this one, I mostly felt like I was just watching people act out moments of Bush’s presidency. There’s nothing different here; it’s just actors acting like Bush, Rove, Cheney, etc.

RYAN: It was almost like an episode of SNL that took itself very seriously.

CAROLINE: Josh Brolin is fabulous though. He had the voice down perfectly, and he played George W. so convincingly even though he doesn’t particularly look like him in real life. It’s almost like he contorted his face in such a way that he made himself look like George Bush. I was very impressed.

RYAN: Within the first fifteen minutes I was thinking he could get an Oscar nomination… but then as the film dragged on, I was over it.

CAROLINE: [laughs’ He stayed great the whole way through though.

RYAN: Yes. Conversely, Thandie Newton went way too far in her portrayal of Condie Rice. It’s a complete caricature.

CAROLINE: She looked exactly like her. It was almost off-putting. I mean, if I didn’t know that was Thandie Newton under all that makeup, I might have thought they got Condoleezza Rice to play herself.

RYAN: Everyone else was good – there are a lot of great character actors you’ll recognize in the film – but I think Richard Dreyfuss gave the best performance. The only miscasting was Elizabeth Banks who was never that convincing as Laura Bush. Every time she was on screen I just thought, “Oh it’s Elizabeth Banks with boring outfits and brown hair.”

CAROLINE: There were a few scenes where her hair was so identical to Laura Bush’s that she did look like her a little bit. I thought her Southern accent was good too. But LBH, her part is tiny. It’s George Bush Sr. who plays the biggest role in W.’s life. James Cromwell does a good job of playing him… but I just wish the movie had more of a point. I don’t think it’s gonna change anyone’s perception of W. Much like the war movies we’ve seen in recent months, I just felt like I was watching the news half the time.

RYAN: And the movie just reiterates the point that this war is less about terror and more about controlling the places our oil comes from. I don’t know if the point is to show that W. is disappointed in himself or his family is disappointed in him or what.

CAROLINE: Honestly, it made me feel some pity for him. It seems he got in over his head by becoming president and has been flailing ever since.

RYAN: But this is the least political political film I’ve ever seen.

CAROLINE: Totally. It just reenacts real events from W.’s presidency.

RYAN: And the scenes of strategic war plan meetings were so long that I was just flat-out bored. Like, I was beau-red. They weren’t dramatic at all.

CAROLINE: Oh my God, those strategy meetings went on forever! I actually dozed at one point.

RYAN: Really? I didn’t even notice.

CAROLINE: I know; I hid it well. But seriously, one of those strategy scenes had to be 20 minutes long. Granted, I’m not that into politics, but they seriously could have cut it in half. We all know that we went to war and that we later found out that Saddam Hussein didn’t have any WMD’s. Then when it happens in the movie, there’s not enough drama. I was just like, “Duh.”

RYAN: Plus the movie’s just too long in general.

CAROLINE: Well, at just over two hours, at least it’s way shorter than some of Oliver’s previous movies. Bottom line?

RYAN: Now that I’m a little older, I’m more apt to enjoy a film like this than I was when Oliver Stone’s other presidential films came out; but I was still bored and “mis”interested in “W.”

CAROLINE: [laughs’]

RYAN: The buzz is pretty true in that it really doesn’t bash Bush. Of course they reenact some of his more ridiculous quotes and slip-ups, but I just desired a lot more drama. Not that I wanted it to be mean-spirited; but it could have been more catty.

CAROLINE: The problem is that we know George Bush’s dirty laundry already. So even though the drunken scenes from his youth are fun to watch, the movie’s not exactly making any big revelations. Sometimes it’s done in an interesting way and sometimes it isn’t. But I don’t think I can strongly recommend this movie, even though Josh Brolin is outstanding.

RYAN: I’d say skip this movie and wait for Oliver Stone’s next one, “Palin.”

CAROLINE: [laughs’ Now that I’d see.