Poor Oliver Stone. The man rode his wave of paranoia straight into cinematic mediocrity, following the likes of JFK and Natural Born Killers with Alexander and World Trade Center. But his latest project W., a look at our current President's early years leading up to his tenure in the White House, holds the hope of old school Stone -- full of crazy, half-cocked ideas. Joining the cast today is Thandie Newton (Run Fatboy Run) as Condoleezza Rice and Mr. Fantastic himself, Ioan Gruffudd as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The two actors join the cast along side Josh Brolin as the "W.", James Cromwell as Bush Sr. Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush and Ellen Burstyn as Barbara. Given the film's active investigation of the Bush Administration, it's hard to tell where Stone is going with this film tone wise. On one end of the spectrum you have No Country for Old Men's budding Josh Brolin hitting his acting stride and on the other, you have Reed Richards from The Fantastic Four who went to space to understand DNA.
Stone reportedly stated that he wants to paint a "fair-minded portrait of a polarizing figure." Contradictory reports of a president easily distracted by his own personal agenda and a Bush-sympathetic script are abound. Stone has yet to cast Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and advisor Karl Rove. Here's hoping that Stone hasn't lost his bite when taking on history as it happens.
