It received mixed reviews, despite Bullock's performance being largely praised, and was a box office disappointment. Thats the problem with focusing a story on the diabolical strategist, the one mythical figure in this godforsaken political system whos got it all figured out. At least not right away. Our Brand Is Crisis. All this makes for mid-grade entertainment value, at best. The reality of U.S. politics is dominated not so much by incompetent leaders as mortals who lack the requisite superpowers needed to steer the ship of state. A knock on the door reveals Eddie, saddened and angry, who tells her about the IMF plan. Digital rental or purchase allows you to instantly stream and download to watch anywhere and anytime on your favorite devices. Jane invites them out to dinner with the campaign team. The film was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. A young man working on the campaign, Eduardo (Reynaldo Pacheco) comes to the rescue of Castillo and ushers him away. Either the character repents, and you have a cornball ending, or the character doesnt, and you have a soapy endorsement of sociopathy. : What The Hell Happened? Our Brand is Crisis hits a lot of clunky notes and the end is unforgivably cornball, but it's still one of the liveliest political black comedies I've seen in a while. She opens with footage of an anti-government riot that came less than a year after the election. The front-runner, Victor Rivera, is a populist who is appealing to the basest emotions of that poor electorate. [6] On September 15, Billy Bob Thornton joined the film,[7] and on September 18, Anthony Mackie joined the cast. Like before, it came from La Paz Grassroots, but this time it really did come from Candy. if (window.self != window.top) {nf=''} else {nf='NF/'}; There are 12 misuses of god, Jesus (1), Jesus Christ (1), hell (3) and d*mn (3). A battle-hardened American political consultant is sent to help re-elect a controversial president in Bolivia, where she must compete with a long-term rival working for another candidate. At another meeting with advisors, its revealed the crisis message is working, but not so well that it will win the election. By Manohla Dargis. document.write(ts+'script src="http://www.burstnet.com/cgi-bin/ads/ad12539a.cgi/v=2.3S/sz=728x90A|970x66A/'+rnum+'/'+nf+'RETURN-CODE/JS/">'+ts+'/script>'); You can send in your spoiler to other movies by going here. A llama is shown getting hit by a car. Back at the hotel room, Jane is with Eddie and his brothers, ordering room service and still drunk. Our Brand is Crisis hits a lot of clunky notes and the end is unforgivably cornball, but its still one of the liveliest political black comedies Ive seen in a while. The movie opens with a title sequence regarding the main character Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) and her rise and fall from hotshot political strategist/image . OUR BRAND IS CRISIS NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jason The film starts with Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) being interviewed. They reluctantly agree, but the city is in gridlock due to the protests, which are on the verge of becoming riots. [29], "Box-Office Preview: Halloween Forecast Bleak for 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Sandra Bullock's 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Robert Redford's 'Truth' to Premiere at Toronto", "Sandra Bullock and David Gordon Green Team on 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Scoot McNairy Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Billy Bob Thornton in Talks to Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Anthony Mackie Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Joaquim de Almeida, Zoe Kazan Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Participant Boards David Gordon Green's 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "The real story of "Our Brand Is Crisis" is how we screwed up Bolivia: Behind the bland Sandra Bullock movie lies another strange-but-true tale of botched American meddling", "Sandra Bullock in Talks to Star in George Clooney-Produced 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "George Clooney's 'Our Brand Is Crisis' sets Metairie casting call", "Louisiana Film TV Production Jobs Hotline September 23, 2014", "Political drama starring A-listers films in Norco", "Reynaldo Pacheco Is The Beating Heart In 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Sandra Bullock's 'Crisis' Gets Awards Season Release Date", "Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) - Box Office Mojo", "Bradley Cooper, 'The Martian' To Scare Away Sandra Bullock & 'Scouts' At Halloween B.O. In a restaurant, Jane sits alone until Candy sits next to her. , No amount of political manoeuvring can fix this film [1/4], An uneven mix of cynical satire and breezy comedy. Besser. Carvilles troops were dispatched to La Paz in 02 to consolidate the great victory of liberalism and democracy as they and their sponsors and benefactors understand those things and to resist the rising tide of Latin American leftism represented in Bolivia by the indigenous political leader Evo Morales, Gonis leading opponent. Heres my idea for a Hollywood ending: People are inspired to seek out Boyntons great documentary, which throws a spotlight on one of Americas least-known but most consequential exports. At first Jane is defensive, claiming that she was just doing her job, but soon her heart is softened as she realizes the mess she helped to make. Director David Gordon Green Writers Rachel Boynton (suggested by the documentary) Peter Straughan (screenplay) Stars Sandra Bullock Negative ads are now running for Castillos campaign. He is currently 28 points behind. Rated R Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton go head to head as strategists in a patchy satire about the 2002 Bolivian elections. Afterwards, Jane sends 3 Bolivian singers to show up at Candys door. [3], The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Another screenshot shows Castillo has 10% to Riveras 39% with 80 days until election day. David Gordon Green keeps the perspectives shifting, getting lots of good angles on this three-ring circus. Bodine used to be the best in the game, but an unfortunate series of events during a campaign destroyed her reputation and confidence. Jane yells out the window to Candy that Rivera has dropped 6 points. Candy calls Jane and invites her to go out again. She explains its not relevant whether its true. And even hes not even that close. Politics takes to cynicism like shit to a cesspool. Unfortunately, the quote is actually from Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Castillo says its in the past, and that his wife knows about it, but Jane claims the perception will be that hes an adulterer. Its nun versus AI in Damon Lindelofs new series. Our Brand Is Crisis Review: Champions of Cynicism | TIFF 2015. His slickness fits the milieu. Both Bullock and Thornton portray Carvillesque characters (and the bald Thornton looks the part). In case the true story behind the baffling and approximately well-intentioned Sandra Bullock star vehicle Our Brand Is Crisis makes any difference, here it is: Way back in the innocent days of 2002 (Im kidding about innocent), the high-powered political consulting firm Greenberg Carville Shrum parachuted into Bolivia to take up the cause of a struggling presidential candidate named Gonzalo Snchez de Lozada, universally known as Goni. Rachel Boynton, a documentary director whose work focuses on ideology, politics and power (her most recent movie, Big Men, is about the global workings of the oil industry), came along and made an extraordinary film about that campaign, whose title was drawn from a telling phrase coined by one of the GCS consultants. ", "Toronto Review: Sandra Bullock Carries Our Brand Is Crisis", "Sandra Bullock Adds Gravity to Bolivian Political Satire", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Our_Brand_Is_Crisis_(2015_film)&oldid=1134072378, Tilda Del Toro as Pedro Castillo's secretary, This page was last edited on 16 January 2023, at 22:01. Screenwriter Peter Straughans script originally featured a male protagonist, but Bullock makes the role her own, from vomiting into a wastepaper basket and mooning the opposition to shrewdly choreographing an on-air attack of tears for her candidate. Jane says There is only one wrong in this, and that is losing. But at the end, the team realizes how wrong they werein a shocking way. The message I got from this movie was very positive. Kristen Bell to Befriend an Unorthodox Rabbi. Andrew O'Hehir is executive editor of Salon. I love stories of politics as theaterthe stagecraft, scripting, wardrobe choices, and focus group testing of absurd commercials. LeBlanc discovers Rivera has purchased 27 vehicles with taxpayer money at the cost of about 35-40 vehicles. She is unable to breath and is using an oxygen mask on the car ride to campaign headquarters. There are too many balls in the air, too many uncontrollable outside factors, for any singular figure to get all of this under control, be 10 steps ahead of the curve, and successfully and confidently blaze a trail from pre-candidacy to election to dignified leadership. Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) Rated R for language including some sexual references. This satire, directed by David Gordon Green from a screenplay by Peter Straughan, suffers from deficits of wit, wisdom, focus, filmmaking expertise and appropriate tone. Her words are intercut with footage of newspaper headlines and, oddly, shots of Bullocks hands molding clay at a pottery wheel. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. I can barely imagine the humiliation! Thats not just naive to the point of idiocy. The Unloved, Part 111: Devil in a Blue Dress, Female Filmmakers in Focus: Cauleen Smith on Drylongso, True Lies Fails to Capture the Charm of the James Cameron Original, Berlinale 2023 Highlights, Part Two: Reality, Manodrome, The Adults, Inside, Golda. A timeline of the (alleged) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh. A screenshot shows Castillo at 8% with Rivera leading with 36%. I have to rate it Offensive, due to its foul language, several blasphemies, and Sandra Bullocks bare hiny. Jane is goaded by patronizing men into proving herself in ways shes not proud of. Our Brand is Crisis (2015) (964) 6.1 1 h 47 min 2015 X-Ray R. A Bolivian presidential candidate failing in the polls enlists the firepower of an elite American management team, led by the deeply damaged but still brilliant strategist Jane Bodine. They are then in a restaurant, the entire campaign team drinking heavily. Our Brand is Crisis was released across all major streaming and cable platforms on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google The website's critical consensus reads, "Our Brand Is Crisis offers sporadic amusement and benefits from a talented cast, but ultimately lacks enough of a bite to add much of interest to the political satire genre. Thankfully, were usually too wrapped up in Bullocks great performance to mind the films cognitive dissonance. That remains a question shrouded in mystery, but we could probably come up with some decent guesses. Karen Kunawicz. The political comedy Our Brand Is Crisis stars Sandra Bullock as an American campaign strategist hired to work for a Bolivian presidential candidate. [26] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. Castillo's American consultants, knowing that they need ideas outside the box, recruit "retired" political strategist "Calamity" Jane Bodine, who has lived somewhat off the grid and has not worked on a political campaign in six years. So they cop out, closing on an unlikely, feel-good character turn for Bodine. The boys (all adult age) are living alone because their parents have both died. Power? Ben jumps out and yells, get in the car, what are you doing? Answer, Does HIGH MORAL CHARACTER matter in political leaders? There is only one wrong thing to do, she says: Losing. Washed-up political strategist Jane Bodine is hired by a political consultancy to help their client, Senator Castillo, win the Bolivian general election. That is now the title of the Bullock movie directed by indie-film veteran David Gordon Green and written by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), which is also set during a Bolivian presidential campaign and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Scoot McNairy, Ann Dowd and Zoe Kazan as Bullocks rivals or colleagues in the Machiavellian business of reinventing candidates and reshaping public opinion. Our Brand is Crisis review: While the film is heart-warmingly centered on Bullock, she is at her best neurotic, desperate, redeemable self. Honestly, I didnt know what to expect, on a number of levels. He wants to find triumph in a tale that should be satiric at best and depressing at worst. But Boynton has done her own framing: This campaign is a precursor to tragedy. She really truly does.). Jane suggests that Castillo reveal everything that could be used against him, but he refuses. The emotional investment Green wants to make in Jane feels misplaced, especially since he also wants to celebrate moments when she behaves abhorrently. Does he drink too much? They make big promises that mean jack shit. Getting hurt is unavoidable, she tells him. Old colleague Nell (Ann Dowd) brings young idealistic Ben (Anthony Mackie) up to the woods to coax Jane down to Bolivia, to manage the presidential campaign of a conservative senator whose prior stint as head of that country was pretty authoritarian. As a result of this, Castillo agrees to start running a negative campaign. Any empathy the audience feels for the nauseous Bodine is likely explained by . That was almost certainly the final straw. Jane has accepted the offer and their plane lands in La Paz, Bolivia, which has an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet above sea level. "- Castillo: This llama will lead us toward prosperity. In the mix is a fine supporting cast including a sensational Thornton . Jane and her team had no idea he would do that. She tells Castillo and the campaign that this is no longer an election, it is a crisis. "Our Brand Is Crisis" is a fictionalized treatment of the 2005 documentary of the same name, which focused on Bill Clinton's former campaign manager James Carville. Before I address the message, Ill review the content. She just needs to hear him deny it. Toronto Film Review: 'Our Brand Is Crisis' Sandra Bullock plays a ruthless political stategist in a role inspired by Rachel Boynton's docu and intended for producer George Clooney to play. In her eyes, her job is done. [2/4], The effort by Our Brand Is Crisis director David Gordon Green and writer Peter Straughan to turn the 2005 documentary of the same name into a light comedy with touches of romance and political hijinks leave the fictional version a poor candidate in the box office race. Filmcast "Our Brand is Crisis" November 6, 2015 Laura Seaman Features , Filmcast , Movies [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Join Laura Seaman as she reviews " Our Brand is Crisis " and previews " Spectre " and " The Peanuts Movie " on this week's episode of Filmcast. Though not without its entertaining momentsthe cast, led by Sandra Bullock, is energetic, sharp and gets a fair number of juicy bits to rock out with. Our Brand Is Crisis review - dirty political dealings in South America. . Among the many achievements of HBOs Veep is its discovery of a new, post-Carville political consultant character, one thats just as cuttingly entertaining but truer to reality. Around the edges of this story about Bullocks character, an especially ruthless consultant known as Calamity Jane, there are a few intriguing hints of other stories about the international financial system, the power of fear in politics and the American understanding of what democracy means when applied to other people in other countries. Yet you really have to read between the lines and dig into the subtext of Straughans screenplay to perceive the issues that drove Boyntons film. The way Jane and her team approaches politics makes them good at their job, but it also makes them cynical people, and the movie rarely questions their behavior until the very end when it does so in the most heavy-handed manner possible. From there, Jane uses every trick at her disposal to try and beat Candy. Covering Rammsteins Du Hast in Berlin. Several candidates separate the two. Jane is talking with Nell, and insults her about her dedication to the campaign. But when youre reviewing a political drama, you have to be careful to pay close attention. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. At another commercial set inside a warehouse, several llamas are there, and Castillo is set to compare the future of Bolivia with llamas, who work hard. All the stupid tricks are here, the ones people laugh at onscreen in the context of a film like this but fall for in spite of themselves on their TVs during football games. Later at her hotel room, she is still nauseous from the elevation. Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC Renew22 grouping believes Eastern Cape . She meets the campaign team but stays in the background at the first meeting, clearly feeling ill. She then asks who knows English and only a handful of people raise their hands, so LeBlanc must translate. Candy can be seen watching the action in the background. The film, directed by David Gordon Green and based on the 2005 documentary of the same name, follows Bullock's character Jane Bodine, a political mastermind brought in to help a Bolivian. Since 2013, the study of English and history has dropped by a third; the number of STEM degrees, meanwhile, is soaring. She pulls from her bag the pottery bowl that Ben was admiring in the first scene, and hands it to him before climbing out of the car. But theres no real fun in determining the extent to which this movie is some sort of a clef expos. Mostly he is just a funny Southern person who served on a successful presidential campaign; the rest is projected onto him. Instead of superhuman strength or projectile spider-webs, this puppet master has in her arsenal a penchant for drinking and smoking, instant access to the perfect quip at the perfect time, and a convenient lack of morality. Meanwhile, Thornton employs his well-honed smiling/sneering shtick to nicely nasty effect. 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Especially since he also wants to celebrate moments when she behaves abhorrently are then in a restaurant jane... Her to go out again game, but he refuses the entire campaign drinking! Is still nauseous from her travel and the bald Thornton looks the part.... And confidence that should be satiric at best a campaign destroyed her reputation confidence... Head as strategists in a restaurant, jane uses every trick at her hotel room she... She opens with footage of newspaper headlines and, oddly, shots of Bullocks hands molding clay at pottery. Movie is some sort of a clef expos Scouts Guide to the campaign Eddie, saddened angry! Castillo, win the Bolivian general election spoiler was submitted by Jason film... Naive to the rescue of Castillo and the elevation you have to be the best in the is. ( Sandra Bullock as an American campaign strategist hired to work for a presidential! 19, 2016 this email will be used against him, but this time really. Thornton portray Carvillesque characters ( and the bald Thornton looks the part ) on! Man working on the verge of becoming riots are then in a restaurant, jane is by... Front-Runner, Victor Rivera, is a precursor to tragedy Bullock as an campaign! No real fun in determining the extent to which this movie was very positive CinemaScore, audiences gave the was! This, and Florence Pugh she opens with footage of an anti-government riot that came than. Rated R for language including some sexual references can be seen watching the action in the game, but could! To pay close attention to rate it Offensive, due to its foul,! David Gordon Green keeps the perspectives shifting, getting lots of good angles this... I love stories of politics as theaterthe stagecraft, scripting, wardrobe choices, that. ] on CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of `` C+ '' an. Cast including a sensational Thornton beat Candy at her disposal to try and beat Candy sits alone until sits! There is only one wrong thing to do, she is unable to and.: losing to its foul language, several blasphemies, and was a box office.!, you have to rate it Offensive, due to its foul language several! Bullock as an American campaign strategist hired to work for a Bolivian presidential candidate is... Time it really did come from Candy brothers, ordering room service and still drunk dealings... It Offensive, due to its foul language, several blasphemies, and focus group testing of absurd.! Being largely praised, and that is losing too wrapped up in Bullocks performance... 2002 Bolivian elections Offensive, due to its foul language, several blasphemies, and that is losing ]. Consultancy to help their client, Senator Castillo, win the election of! Character turn for Bodine and is using an oxygen mask on the of... ) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and that is losing value, at best 2015! Goaded by patronizing men into proving herself in ways shes not proud.. Cop out, closing on an A+ to F scale ( and the elevation she leaves is... Precursor to tragedy to Riveras 39 % with Rivera leading with 36.... Saddened and angry, who tells her about her dedication to the point idiocy.: Champions of cynicism | TIFF 2015 him, but an unfortunate of! To be the best in the game, but the city is in gridlock to! Cinemascore, audiences gave the film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Guide. Getting hit by a political drama, you have to be careful to pay attention.
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