Los Angeles - As if there wasn't enough drama in the run-up to the US elections, political junkies now have a controversial movie about the sitting president to nurse their election fever.

Director Oliver Stone's movie hit thousands of cinemas across the country over the weekend, earning a respectable 10.6 million dollars to come in fourth at box offices after the other great chronicles of the times: Max Payne, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and The Secret Life of Bees.

Not surprisingly, the movie was not a favourite among the Republican stalwarts who stood by Bush through nearly eight years in office but now blame the most unpopular US president in recent history for poisoning their chances in the November 4 elections.

But left-leaning moviegoers streamed through turnstiles in droves, according to polls by the film's distributor, Lionsgate. Studio polls showed 55 per cent of the audience called themselves liberals and 31 per cent identified themselves as moderates. Only 14 per cent of the audience said they were conservative.

"Attendance was strong in both red and blue states," said Steve Rothenberg, president of distribution at Lionsgate.

"We felt it was very important to release the film after the presidential debates but before the election. We felt interest in the election would be at its height, and interest in George W Bush would be much greater now than after January. We feel we have a good corridor over the next two weeks."

But Democrats who were expecting the avowedly left-wing director to launch a Michael Moore-like political screed against the two-term president may have been disappointed. Stone preferred to delve into Bush's psychological terrain rather than provide a political chronology.

The president, played by Josh Brolin, certainly enjoys some typically buffoonish moments.

But Stone is more concerned with showing that Bush's unbridled ambition, iron will and sense of power were the products of his complex relationship with his parents, George and Barbara Bush. The film suggests that the straight-laced former president and first lady never believed that young George W would - or even should - amount to much.

But the younger Bush finds religion. He sobers up and decides to run for office, partly because he believes it's his God-given mission and partly because he wants to prove himself to his family. Political strategist Karl Rove refines Bush's image and develops a cynical political game plan that catapults him to power.

At the White House, Stone shows Bush falling into the worst trap for any politician - believing his own hype. Bush makes decisions for two reasons - political expediency and gut instincts - and the rest is well known.

"It looked it would be a sketch of a stumbling president, but it ended up being a Oedipus story that makes a widely reviled president a pretty sympathetic figure," said Bob Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.

"He was a guy who was trying to please his parents but got in way over his head. It's a devastating indictment of presidency but not the person."

That sympathetic portrayal did not bother most anti-Bush filmgoers, it seems.

"The film more-or-less jibed with my assessment of him - not that he's evil but that he's just not smart enough for the job," said Lisa Palmer, a financial planner in San Jose, California.

"I don't think I could have watched it without knowing that in a few weeks the Bush era will be over. It made me so glad he's done." dpa