W.

Is Josh Brolin using performance-enhancing steroids? Three years ago, he played the bad guy from Into the Blue, then followed it with intense, diverse performances in Grindhouse, No Country For Old Men, American Gangster, and Milk. Brolin is just as brilliant in the title role of Oliver Stone’s W., nailing the ex-President’s mannerisms and speech patterns without doing a straight impression. He exudes the scary confidence of a man who led a country to war based on faith, and the wounded rage of a screw-up son living in his father’s shadow. Unfortunately, Stone’s film is a ramshackle series of blackout sketches and non-revelations. The performances vary wildly—most of the actors underplay their parts, while Thandie Newton does a sub-SNL burlesque on Condoleezza Rice.