You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush

Even though I've watched this more than 6 years after it came out, the solid writing and the well-timed comedic touches still felt as fresh. I assumed Mr. Ferrell had a team of writers contribute to the show while viewing it, but it turns out he has adopted the character so closely that the writing was all his. And he runs through it without a hitch in a well-choreographed, well-directed, and extremely well-acted play.

You're likely to enjoy it even when you don't usually like his movies. This is not a self-celebratory liberal bashing of George W. Bush at all. You may even sympathize with the guy for being put in a place that turned out to be more demanding than he possibly expected. Definitely worth checking it out...

If you don't find this funny then you either have no sense of humor what-so-ever or you're an up tight conservative that has that stick way too far up their a**! Will Ferrell has George Bush right on the money in this. Believe me, I'm no left-winged liberal by any means but seriously if you can't laugh at this then I don't know if I could classify you as human....I find Will Ferrell childish, yes. But I think he does it better than no one else. Adam Sandler for example is funny in a childish way but he doesn't get me rolling on the ground laughing like Ferrel has a tendency to do. I could see Bush supporters getting their panties in a bunch over this but needless to say most of the depictions of Bush in this film are hilarious and true. I suggest watching this movie, gets a good laugh.

Obviously someone missed the point of this. Will Ferrell has been playing this Bush character since his days on SNL and this is that character at his best. Most level headed people that don't tie political satire with extreme political biased, will understand that it's just a big goof; George Bush himself would probably find this to be quite amusing(maybe that's a stretch, but even Bush is smart enough to see that this is satire not a serious political movie). No matter your party affiliation, if you can think with a free mind and don't take everything that Will Ferrell says to be him preaching a serious liberal agenda, you should be able to enjoy this. I mean c'mon it's Will Ferrell, after Stranger Than Fiction I don't think he'll ever be serious again.

It is really hard for me to judge this movie because it is politically charged, historically educational, and a rather scattered collection of lewd and extreme segments, all at once. The first two thirds were excellent and I laughed really hard and often. Much of what Farrel says about G.W. is both shocking and true, so there is some really valuable recent history delivered in a very entertaining way. No small feat. Some of the information was even shocking to learn and I had to look it up and always found that he was correct. I haven't looked up everything but I would bet that nearly everything he says that wasn't obviously a joke is completely true. The movie is very valuable for anyone who doesn't know much about G.W. or misremembers or just plain forgot.

Even though the first two thirds has some really hilarious parts, it is shot through with some serious material which I did not mind. The performance takes an abrupt and very serious turn for the final third. I was OK with that too but was sad that most of the laughs were gone. Still, I thought the latter material dragged on far too long. So if you don't watch the whole thing that is perfectly OK. Just know that the wrap-up and interaction with the audience at the end is precious.

You will either love this movie or love to hate it, so either way you win!

After what I thought was a rather slow start, Will Ferrell picked up steam in this largely one-man stage play about the life and times and presidency of George W. Bush - the 43rd, former but not too lamented president of the United States. It's sometimes crude (the penis thing was overdone), sometimes bewildering (I never really understood the reference to the time in Vermont with the guy whose name I forget) and some things went on too long (the "wipe that smirk off your face" gag near that weak start - yeah, it was part of the show, and the "giving audience members nicknames" became very tired very fast.) In spite of those weaknesses, though - and unless you're a rabid fan of Bush - this is pretty funny stuff. It really hits its stride once Bush is elected and the review of his presidency begins. There are some truly hilarious moments - the Condi Rice scene was great, as well as some of the Dick Cheney reflections - and even a more or less serious moment, when Ferrell's Bush reflects on those who've died as a result of the war in Iraq. There are a lot of just plain humorous and yet historical anecdotes (like reflections on the "coalition of the willing" - Morocco's offer to send trained monkeys to Iraq and the Solomon Islands joining - in spite of the fact that they have no army - as well as the whole anti-France "freedom fries" silliness.)

Ferrell's performance was pretty good. He had the Bush swagger down pat ("in Texas we call this walking!") and he looked and sounded the part pretty well, the voice leading to a humorous moment questioning why no one else in the entire Bush family has a Texas accent! Even if you are a Bush fan, watch it for what it is - poking fun at a guy who even conservatives would have to admit was a pretty controversial president. 8/10