Hollywood Leaks Oliver Stone's 'W' Script

Oliver Stone's buzz-laden Bush biopic, which the director hopes to release while the President is still in office, opens in front of Texas Rangers Stadium in Arlington, Texas. President Bush, wearing a polo shirt and Dockers, stands in center field holding a baseball. The crowd roars. Somewhere in the background, wearing a chicken outfit, is the guy from 'Borat.'

'W', which IMDB slates for a 2009 release, will star former-Goonie Josh Brolin as President George W. Bush, Elizabeth Banks ('Scrubs') as Laura Bush, Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn as, gulp, Barbara Bush and James Cromwell (the farmer from 'Babe') as George Herbert Walker Bush-Stamos.

Recently, The Hollywood Reporter leaked the first few pages of Stanley Weiser's script to Bush biographers to gauge the accuracy of the portrayal. As of now, reactions are mixed.

According to Robert Draper, author of 'Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush,' "It leaves you with the impression that the White House is run as a fraternity house." And Jacob Weisberg, author of "The Bush Tragedy," was skeptical of Stone's wishes to make a "true portrait" of the man.

Some scenes--in particular, one in which Bush flies a plane while intoxicated--are merely based on hearsay. While others--like the one in which Bush flies to Iceland to spend the day with a boy who crank-calls him--are dead-on fact. When asked about the accuracy of certain events, the screenwriter said, "I have no comment other than the fact that I have read 17 books on Bush."

An early scene in the film, which features an enormous bottle of vodka, is after the jump:

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.