HOWZAT

He said that he and his writers had done as much research as they could “with the limited information available to us”, and thanked a roll-call of a dozen American investigative journalists, from Bob Woodward down.

“We don’t know everything. We made the film because it leads to the next question – where is America now?”

Michael Gaston, who plays General Tommy Franks, said: “They think Oliver’s a crazy left-wing freak. No. Oliver’s a great patriot, from a Republican family. He volunteered for Vietnam and he was a classmate [at Yale] of our President. Oliver was getting As and our President was getting Cs.”

Other actors at the premiere along with Brolin, the genial Californian star of No Country for Old Men, included Thandie Newton, the British actress wearing Condoleezza Rice’s power suits in the film, and Elizabeth Banks, currently starring in the unlikely roles of Laura Bush in W. and Miri in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Brolin said that it had been “very strange” to play Mr Bush because he wanted to avoid seeing too much of the man once he had started filming, necessitating almost complete isolation from the news.

The all-star cast also includes Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld and Ioan Gruffudd as Tony Blair.

Introducing the film, James Harding, the Editor of The Times, said: “Journalists always like to write the first draft of history but tonight we have been scooped by our own gala.”

Six to watch

Sugar
1pm, Odeon West End 1 Drama about an ambitious young baseball player from the Dominican Republic

Hansel and Gretel
2pm, National Film Theatre 1 South Korean film about a man trapped in a heavily wooded version of the Bermuda Triangle

Frozen River
3.30pm, Odeon West End 2 A mother abandoned by her husband gets involved in smuggling illegal immigrants

The Candidate
4.15pm, National Film Theatre 1 Danish thriller as victim attempts to turn tables on blackmailers

Johnny Mad Dog
6.30pm, Odeon West End 1 Liberian-shot tale of child soldiers in murderous rampage

Wendy & Lucy
6pm, Odeon West End 2 A woman’s new life in Alaska goes sour when she is caught shoplifting

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