When it comes to portraying the president, Hollywood has a mean streak

You might be wondering why W., Oliver Stone's indictment of all things Bush, hasn't riled up more conservatives in the run-up to its October 17 release. After all, here's a film that shows a drunk Dubya challenging his dad to a lawn fight.

Whatever Stone has to say about our 43rd president, it's just not that controversial. Even if you prod conservatives to react to the director's latest polemic, the most you get is a defensive "Who cares?" There's something old and familiar about George W. Bush cracks like the one from a scene in which a young George tells his future wife, "We're hitting it off like grease hit the skillet." (Didn't Trey Parker and Matt Stone use that one somewhere on That's My Bush?)

But maybe it's also because audiences have gotten used to this kind of thing, not least of all from Stone, whose 1995 Nixon set the template for presidential smears: They're long, they usually involve some conspiracy, and there's always lots of fictionalized "insider" details. Richard Nixon talks to himself? Sure! Why not?

If there's any insight to be gleaned from these confessionals, biopics, and historical comedies (in the case of Dick), it probably has less to do with the actual politicians and more with the mythology they represent. After all, Josh Brolin may not look or sound anything like the real George W. Bush, but as long as he chokes on a pretzel and says, "I'm the decider," won't audiences be entertained?

Let's take a look back at how Hollywood movies have portrayed our favorite U.S. presidents.