W.

Pronounced "Dubya", in case you didn't already know. According to Oliver Stone's largely pointless film about the former President.

Bush Junior was a disaster as President. He was, quite simply, one of the worst they have ever had. He was a man completely out of his depth with the country he was meant to be running, and completely at odds with the world he was in. He was lacking in eloquence, intelligence and wit. Whilst it became a cliche during his eight years in the White House to call Bush a moron, it sometimes did appear as if there was very little going on behind Bush's dark little eyes. Bush came across as a man from a privileged background with little interest in anything beyond his own narrow worldview.

Inevitably, this is the side to the Bush Presidency that the film focuses on. For the first half of the film, Bush is a drunken oaf. When he sobers up, he then becomes a Christian zealot and a politician determined to prove how decisive he is. The only addition to the tired and worn cliche of Bush being an idiot is the completely unsubtle implication that he may have been motivated by a tortured relationship with his judgmental father (played by James Cromwell, who manages to look nothing like Bush Senior). This mismanaged sub plot manages to reach a hysterical crescendo when the two generations of Bush men square up to each other. In many ways it is just a shame that they didn't have the fight - two future Presidents of the United States of America, bitch-slapping each other would have been a great cinematic moment.

Yet there is more to the Bush administration than simply the perceived incompetence of the then Commander In Chief. He was President during truly historic times. Yet these are barely touched on in the film. Yep, we have extended scenes detailing the run-up to the Iraq War, that consist of Bush's staff rehashing arguments like a Student Union having a debate. There is next to nothing on 9/11. Hurricane Katrina doesn't get a mention. The Patriot Act is mentioned in passing over lunch. And the contested election in 2000? Well, that is dismissed with the trite scenario of "Poppy did it." How did Bush - portrayed as a gibbering chimp in this film who can't even find the way to his own car on his own ranch - win a comfortable victory in 2004? If you don't know about those crucial parts of Bush's time in the White House, you won't do by the end of W. You will, however, have watched Bush gurn away to a comedy soundtrack that includes the Robin Hood Song.

There is a great movie to be made about President George W. Bush. A movie that deals with the epic, world-changing events that happened during the tumultuous eight years of his Presidency. Sadly, W. is not that movie. W. is a movie about how people can be vain, stupid and closed minded when making the choice about going to war. Unfortunately, W. fails here as well. There is a far more effective movie on that subject out there.

So if you want to find out about George W. Bush, read a book. If you want to watch how the lead up to a war can involve pretty much anything other than common sense and a clear understanding of why conflict is coming, watch In The Loop. As a movie, W. achieves very little bar a lot of poor imitations of the people who used to run the US.