Or that’s what the Huffington Post, in (increasingly) typical aggrandizing fashion, would have you believe. Richard Dreyfuss appeared on The View recently, where he discussed, among other things, Oliver Stone’s working methods (“imagine working for Sean Hannity,” and “you can be a fascist, even if you’re on the left”) and the final cut of W. “It’s about 6/8 of a good movie,” he says, which is pretty much the party line. But instead of being pleased that someone is talking honestly and off the cuff about their job, the HuffPost paints those statements as slams.
I’ve always been under the impression that film directors have to be fascists to some extent, especially when you’re working towards a very strict deadline, as Stone was (for better or worse) with W. I’ve worked with kind, cuddly directors — small time guys — and there was a reason they were small time. Almost to a one, they sucked. Couldn’t make decisions, couldn’t make their days. The word has such a negative connotation that many directors aren’t going to accept the tag, but calling a director a fascist just seems appropriate.
The W material really starts at 3:30, but check out the lame Holiday Inn commercial joke at about 1:40. It’s…unfortunate.