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Jeb Bush calls 'W' movie 'Hooey'

By Scott Galupo (Contact) | Friday, October 17, 2008

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Oliver Stone has proclaimed that his new feature film "W." aims to be an "empathetic" psychological portrait of President Bush.

The president's younger brother has a different impression.

At the heart of "W.," opening nationally in theaters Friday, is a psychological portrait of George W. Bush as living perpetually in the shadow of his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and driven to invade Iraq at least in part by a desire to prove he is as tough as the elder statesman.

"The Oedipal rivalry is high-grade, unadulterated hooey," former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told The Washington Times.

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Exploring such a complicated family dynamic might have benefited from direct conversations with, say, the president's younger brother who, in the telling of Mr. Stone and his "W." screenwriter, Stanley Weiser, was regarded by his parents as the more promising sibling.

"I didn't receive a call," Jeb Bush said.