You know, because Dick Cheney told Patrick Leahy to go fuck himself on the floor of the Senate, and then that guy threw it back at Cheney when he toured the aftermath of Katrina, and… oh, never mind.
Robert Duvall has played lots of assholes in his time, so he’s kind of a no-brainer for Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone’s W. But before we start doing cartwheels over this casting, let’s wait and see if the mercurial thespian accepts the offer, which, according to his agency (via Entertainment Weekly), hasn’t been officially presented. Obviously, Duvall isn’t exactly a dead ringer for Cheney, but we’re talking about the director who cast Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon; Stone’s after spiritual verisimilitude.
EW is also reporting that Jeffrey Wright is in talks to play former Secretary of State Colin Powell, while James Cromwell is circling the role of George H.W. Bush. Wright’s a chameleon and Cromwell’s aces at playing a stiff patriarch, so you’ll get no kvetching from me on these choices. They’ll fit in well with Josh Brolin as the title bungler and Elizabeth Banks as the eerily pleasant Laura Bush; actually, Banks may have too much personality for Laura, but it’ll be fun to see how she handles the challenge.
W (which has yet to land a domestic distributor) will begin shooting on April 21st.
18 comments
I would have cast satan in cheney's role
Anthony Lapaglia for Bush!
Duvall is pretty conservative, so if he does accept, you can be sure Stone's script goes pretty easy on Bush (if it isn't already obvious from the casting).
Wonder if Stone will cover Vietnam, seeing as how he was wounded there as a marine. Obviously other people have picked up on that thread numerous times but this would be a real high profile fuck you towards bush's time in the guard.
I remember the first time Duvall was on Letterman…Showed up in a track suit. Letterman looked to the side, laughed, and said "This can't be good, folks – our first guest just threw me the finger."
And in other news, Timothy Bottoms has fired his agent.
This movie keeps looking more and more interesting. Now if only I could get my hands on the screenplay…
April 21st? That's my birthday! But anyway, I look forward to this one.
Holy shit, Robert Duvall would be inspired! (the Great Santini as the biggest Dick in America!)I would love to see him rise up to this challenge(feels like he's been cruising as of late, and truth be told, he kinda sucked in WE OWN THE NIGHT). I don't think he's had an interesting movie(not counting BROKEN TRAIL) since SECONDHAND LIONS. One of my all time faves, if he signs on-color me excited! Thanks for the write-up, Beaks!
Despite he's got buttock grooves worn into the seat in the oval office, I don't see Cromwell being able to pull off the lack of physical presence or the glass eyed stare without anything short of a four story fall.
Except Duvall is 10 years older than Cheney and looks even more…
Duvall approaching Cheney as "evil" would be bullshit. What actor would want that, regardless of political bent? Not even the guy who played Dahmer approached it like that. I like Brolin for Bush. Except I don't want to think of this when I see Brolin after. Or see him playing it light an Oscar bait role where he was a handicap. "I can't talk!" ha. I'm really not interested in this movie. Feels like a gimmick. Attempt to be relevant and first on a subject. This could be Stone's sell out movie because I suspect he will just present the Bush that people who hate Bush want to see.
This should be interesting. I read a report somewhere (here, maybe?) saying the film will make you question everything you thought you knew. Since most people see Bush as a bungling boob, could this film actually be presenting a more even-handed story? Seems unlikely from a guy like Stone, but it *would* be fascinating to see a liberal guy try to present both sides of the story. I'm up for it.
This would be great casting, but I'm hating all of the other parts so far. Cromwell as Bush Sr. is alright, but I'm not buying Brolin and Elizabeth Banks as Dubya and Laura. Especially Banks. What the fuck is that? I don't know, maybe my extreme dislike of Bush is clouding my judgement.
He loves the smell of *what* in the morning..?
amazing casting, but Josh Brolin for W. Bush? Brolin is way too good looking for that
Dick Cheney laughs at you assholes every day of the week and 80 times on Sundays. He's laughing right now. I should know, jackasses, I'm sitting in the black helicopter next to him. Boo hoo! JSG
I think Jeffrey Wright would be better cast as Condoleeza Rice…
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.