W.

Josh Brolin is great as the child who’s in over his head. All the performances are strong from Jeffrey Wright’s subtle Colin Powell to Thandie Newton’s hilariously cartoonish Condoleeza Rice. The problem is, how do you end this movie? There’s no result. It’s a lot like the Bush presidency. How many times is he going to screw up before it ends? The movie doesn’t feel like it’s building toward anything dramatically. Also, it skips over major misdeeds in the Bush presidency, which is unfortunate but necessary. There are only so many hours. Nevertheless, it’s satisfying to see Oliver Stone and a cast of great actors turn the screws a bit. But it barely eases the sting from eight years of havoc.