Trailer Park: Oliver Stone’s ‘W.’

The buzz keeps building for the Oct. 17 release of “W,” Oliver Stone’s sure-to-be-original take on the life and times of President George W. Bush. The release of the official trailer for the film is likely to ratchet up the anticipation even more, especially since it cleverly plays against expectations.



There are no upside-down American flags in flames, no rapid-fire montage of Iraq-war footage interspersed with #43’s pronouncements from the Oval Office … the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from Stone, a flame-throwing cinematic provocateur if there ever was one. Instead we get glimpses of a younger, restless, inebriate, itinerant George Bush in training to be himself, much of it done to the strains of “What a Wonderful World.”

This is likely to be Stone’s way of underpromising and overdelivering. The man is more than capable of surprises. Look at how "Alexander" turned out; people were expecting something like "Spartacus," he gave them something closer to "Caligula." No one in Hollywood or anywhere else really expects a by-the-book biopic of this president. Not three weeks before the election. Watch for more trailers — and fireworks — to come.