Exclusive: Oliver Stone, director of "W.," says "My mom didn't really like the movie"

Oliver Stone, saying he was exhausted from rushing the production of his new movie, "W.," in time for its release three weeks before the election, took some time out Wednesday morning to talk to Countdown to Crawford. We appreciate it.

In an interview, Stone said that he poured "my heart and soul" into the movie, trying to be "empathetic" in his portrayal of George W. Bush. Describing a hum of 1,000 people who turned out to the New York premier last night in New York, Stone said he got many compliments, but not from his mother.

"She's a Republican," he quipped of Jacqueline Goddet Stone, who met his father, Lou Stone, in France when the young American was serving as an aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. "She didn't really like the movie."

We asked Stone about his portrayal of two prominent women in the movie -- First Lady Laura Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

In the movie, Laura Bush, played by Elizabeth Banks, is portrayed as a soft, sympathetic, supportive wife. President Bush has acknowledged over the years that it was his wife who gave him the ultimatum to give up drinking, saying, "It's Jim Beam or me." But Stone opted to make the decision to stop drinking a religious conversion by Bush into born-again Christianity.

"You can’t go off his autobiography," Stone said, suggesting Bush's own account was unreliable. "I wanted to show in Laura a person who is supportive of him. She does express concern. She coaxed him to quit, but she's not a confrontative woman."

As for Condi Rice, the portrayal by Thandie Newton suggests the ultimate sycophant, someone who nods at the president's every utterance and makes no impact of her own on policy.

Stone said he came to that conclusion after reading Bob Woodward's books about the first-term Bush White House, and stands by the portrait.

"I would call it an enabler," he said. "She was overrun by [former Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and [Vice President Dick] Cheney." Besides, said Stone, "If she had stood up more, he wouldn’t have liked her."

To prove his point, Stone alluded to one telling scene in the movie. The president, played by Josh Brolin (seen above at the film's New York opening), tells Cheney, played with finesse by Richard Dreyfuss, not to talk so much in public meetings. "I’m the decider," Bush tells Cheney in "W."

"His ego did not suffer other people," Stone explained.

Asked what's next for him, the director said he had passed on revisiting "Wall Street," his classic story of capitalist greed. As global financial markets continued their frenzied turmoil, he suggested a sequel "would be the same story, wouldn't it?"

Here's a peek at "W."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Richie G.]

It's typical of the Hollywood Left to air a movie like the latest trash heap "W", due out this Friday. I guess these whackos are still peeved about the presidential election results of 2000. Hey, libs...GET OVER IT!!! (Thank God "W" was president on Sept. 11, 2001! If algore were elected, we'd still be at the mercy of attacks on U.S. soil by Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden-led terrorists.) If Barack Hussein Obama is elected, America will be back at risk of attack once again. Obama's associations with William Ayres, ACORN and Rev. Jeremiah Wright speak volumes as to the character... or lack thereof...of this man. Those of us who have a 401 K or other retirement plan will suffer greatly because of the Democrat-controlled congress lead by Nancy Pelosi , Barney Frank and Harry Reid. Thank you, Hollywood Left, for showing your true BIAS when it comes to movies lately.

[David J]

If Al Gore had been President, there may not have *been* a 9/11.

Seems interesting how the wingnut Right keep forgetting that it was on W's watch that this tragedy took place, and something that could have been avoided had the NIE been taken seriously.

Truth hurts, doesn't it?

[Richie G.]

hahahah you nutjob

[Bill]

Richie G,

I see you forgot to take your medication today! If Al Gore had been president instead of george w we would be in a much better place...no false war with Iraq, Bin Laden dead or captured and no meltdown on Wall Street. There would be no trampling of the US Constitution, no lies to the American people and no lazy retard in the White House.

Obama in 2009!!!

[tammy b]

To Richie G:
Hey, this is supposed to be a fairly even-keeled review of w's life,
not some leftist rant. (I have not seen it yet).
If his daddy's policies did not cause havoc on the other side of the planet
years ago, there would be no terrorist threat as there is today....
PLEASE WAKE UP!!

[Haden]

Richie, there are several problems with your reasoning.

1. The financial mess was created by deregulation, which allowed banks to invest more broadly. Although both Democrats and Republicans voted for the bills that accomplished the deregulation, it is a conservative ideal. Conservatives want to deregulate everything. I am sure that you are in favor of deregulation. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would not have caused this financial meltdown if the banks had not invested in these subprime mortgages, which they were not allowed to do prior to 1999. Blaming Barney Frank is not looking at the real problem.

2. Regardless of whether Al Gore was elected, we are still at the mercy of terrorist attacks. In fact, the continued intrusion into the Middle East is what creates these terrorists in the first place. Invading Iraq and installing a government is precisely the kind of thing that convinces extreme radicals that the U.S. is their enemy.

3. Obama's associations with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and ACORN are no more telling of the content of his character than John McCain's associations with Charles Keating and William Timmons, or Sarah Palin's association with the AIP. Bill Ayers is a respected community leader in Illinois, regardless of what he did 40 years ago (John McCain, at the same time, was a self-confessed adulterer, drunk and brat, but we have allowed him to rehabilitate himself). ACORN is a group that was supported by both parties. The alleged voter fraud involving ACORN was self-reported and not initiated by ACORN. You should educate yourself regarding how ACORN works. Rev. Wright was simply expressing an unpopular view, with which Obama has never agreed. Rev. Wright has the freedom to express his view, regardless of whether you agree with him.

[Wizzle]

I'm going to call this b4 it happens. Oliver Stone has a sketchy track record at best. Due to the rushed production of this movie (I could tell this b4 this article) this movie is more than likely going to be mediocre or just bad. Because most of the media is liberal, instead of sticking to their "normal" ways of rating movies (Acting, dialogue, etc...) they are going to say "this is a great movie, EVERYONE should go and see this" Which b/c they want Obama elected, is in itself a travesty.
Art is art, rate it how it really is.

[baz]

They should have called the movie "BOTCH".

[phill]

I can't believe there are still people out there who like gw bush.