Next to Clint Eastwood, I can’t think of another director who has gone from being such an important and masterful director to making movies that are essentially an afterthought. To take the guy who was responsible for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, two amazing pieces of filmmaking that were responsible for defining an entire genre of Vietnam war movies, not to mention great work in the 90s from JFK to Any Given Sunday, and see him now making stuff like W. is somewhat disheartening.
It seems like it may have begun with Alexander, and the personal antipathy towards star Colin Farrell at the time (he’s since redefined his image in a fantastic way by taking on awesome little projects like In Bruges). Since then Stone hasn’t had the same kind of reputation as he did just a decade prior. Perhaps politics has become such an area of concern, and his positions in said area have become so unorthodox and extreme, that this has somewhat hindered his ability to express himself through compelling stories and images.
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