(A heavy back story is subsequently revealed, followed by an ever heavier back story to the back story.) . Not seeing what she highlighted, Candy asks about it. He wants to find triumph in a tale that should be satiric at best and depressing at worst. Read full review SEE ALL 35 REVIEWS User Score Write a Review 6.4 Positive: 23 This Friday, Sandra Bullock assumes the role in Our Brand Is Crisis, a mostly satirical take on a 2005 documentary of the same name about American political consultants conquest of a Bolivian election. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd and Joaquim de Almeida. Preview", "Star-Driven Casualties 'Our Brand Is Crisis' & 'Burnt' At The B.O. However, when two strategists for a struggling Bolivian presidential campaign pique her interest, she goes down to the South American country to see if she should get back in the fight. Exactly who decided that a widely disliked candidate in such a small country merited such attention, alongside such star GCS clients as Tony Blair, the Israeli Labor Party and the Canadian Liberal Party? 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. Did Cirie go too far by bringing family matters into the game? Nell explains that Castillos opponent, Rivera, has hired her old arch nemesis, Pat Candy (played by Billy Bob Thornton). [13] Peter Straughan was set to write the script, with Clooney attached as a potential director and star for the film, about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election's campaign by James Carville's Washington, D.C.-based political consulting firm Greenberg Carville Shrum,[14][15] which was hired by candidate Gonzalo Snchez de Lozada. Power? Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate to heavys. Eddie and his brothers join the protests and are shouting angry chants. Someone smashes an egg on Castillo, who spectacularly punches the assailant. After this incident, however, Castillo shows the other side of him by being kind to protesters who throw rocks at his bus. He takes a room across the balcony in Janes hotel, where he can meet her stare, undress her with his eyes, and psych her out. They plan to frighten the people, with the aim of persuading them to vote for the unsympathetic but known Castillo rather than the younger opposition candidates. Answer, spin doctors / truth and lies in political campaigns, how marketing strategies are use to manipulate the opinions of voters, evaluate the claim that theres only one wrong in political campaigns and thats losing, evaluate the comment, if you fight monsters too long, you become one, VOTINGDo Christians have an obligation to vote? Our Brand Is Crisis grossed $7 million in North America and $1.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $8.6 million, against a budget of $28 million. [21] It had a wide release in 2,202 theaters for 21 days. What makes this fictionalized Our Brand Is Crisis worth noticing to the extent it is, which isnt much is that the filmmakers probably believe they are delivering roughly the same message as Boyntons documentary did, but in fact the most important aspects of this striking story has been scrubbed away or laundered into Hollywood-style pseudo-psychological neutrality. It starts out with big promises and ends up with jackshit happening.". It received mixed reviews, despite Bullock's performance being largely praised, and was a box office disappointment. ------------------------------------------. She comes to realize shes better than that. Our Brand Is Crisis still could have been an excellent tale, but told through a soft prism of second chances and good intentions, we can't buy what Green is selling. Rivera then repeats the quote Jane told Candy. Candy calls Jane and invites her to go out again. That is, of course, when you can get her out of 'retirement' and give her a good reason to . Sometimes the portrayal is satiricalRobert DeNiros spin doctor in Wag the Dog, the assassin-like Dylan McDermott in The Campaign, the sex-addicted Kathryn Hahn in televisions Parks and Recreation. There is very little violence. Montage of the press reporting throughout the day. Eddie is delivering a framed photograph to now President-Elect Castillos Senate offices. Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC Renew22 grouping believes Eastern Cape . This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. She spends the night in jail. The interviewer says she's been known by many names, most notably "Calamity Jane". "Our Brand Is Crisis" is being released by Warner Bros., but was largely funded by Participant Media, which produces what it calls "socially relevant films and documentaries." In other words,. 2/4[], Our Brand Is Crisis fun until it gets serious For too long, the stakes play second fiddle to the strategists and even the candidates remain too elusive to make the audience care as much as it should. Candy says he will be going to overseas for a British campaign. Jane highlights something in the book. Candy can be seen watching the action in the background. It might be possible to make a good movie out of a cross between Mike Nichols Primary Colors and Costa-Gavras Z, but Our Brand Is Crisis, directed by David Gordon Green in a seeming attempt to do something along those lines, is not that movie. Its educational and leaves you with serious thoughts about political power. Jane says that Pat Candy is behind the fliers. She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. This is yet another film that could have been PG (maybe PG-13 due to a mooning scene) with a cleaner script. if (window.self != window.top) {nf=''} else {nf='NF/'}; When Jane realizes how much she hurt the country, shes so upset that she actually quits her business and joins the protesters. Instead, both end up outside of their hotel rooms so they can see each other. When she starts giving it back to himpsyching him outthe movie gets really good. A one-stop-shop for all things video games. 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. They approach each other and she just smiles. [11] More casting was also announced, which included Reynaldo Pacheco, Dominic Flores, Louis Arcella, and Octavio Gmez. It begins poorly, with an odd montage intercut to stagey interview footage in which Bullocks character, Calamity Jane Bodine, formulates an apologia for we-dont-quite-know-what. 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. Comedy-Drama. Jane meets with Castillo who says shes a liability. Politics takes to cynicism like shit to a cesspool. Castillo says its in the past, and that his wife knows about it, but Jane claims the perception will be that hes an adulterer. Covering Rammsteins Du Hast in Berlin. Their main tactic is to emphasize the many problems of the economy and present Castillo as the solution. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. While Castillo is meeting with the press, Jane meets Eduardo. At least not right away. Entertaining and provocative, Our Brand Is Crisis is a satirical political drama. In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Castillo hires an American political consulting firm (based on James Carville's Greenberg Carville Shrum firm) to help him win the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. The problem is that they do such a good job selling this Jane that they do exactly what theyre supposed to do: They make you curious about her. 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. He cant reconcile that her success also makes her a bad person. It casts a skeptical eye at the gospel of globalization thats preached by Janes team, but its outrage is more directed at cynicism than at any specific system. "Our Brand is Crisis" was one of these pleasant surprises. (Vice) President Selina Meyers (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has a stable of advisers including Dan Egan (Reid Scott) and Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) who have internalized and aspire to the Carville cult; its just that reality interrupts to remind them that things dont work like that. Does he drink too much? Plot out uproarious long-shot tricks against his opponents that always seem to work out even better than hoped? The interviewer says shes been known by many names, most notably Calamity Jane. He says the people in the village dont understand that yet. Some of her pranks, specifically one ploy to feed her candidates unsuspecting competitor a Nazi quotation during the campaigns final debate, are good for a laugh. Lets Do the Thing: How Online Were You in February 2023? In a restaurant, Jane sits alone until Candy sits next to her. One of the llamas is hit by a truck. 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. Maybe Carville and the Clintonocracy were empowering democracy after all, even if it wasnt quite the variety they intended. Reluctantly enlisted to help elect the unlikable bully Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida), Jane gets the bit between her teeth when she discovers that her arch-rival, Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), is running the oppositions campaign. Our Brand is Crisis review: While the film is heart-warmingly centered on Bullock, she is at her best neurotic, desperate, redeemable self. Castillo wins the vote by a small margin. Bodine had fled the consulting scene for years after an eruption of conscience that pushed her to mental breakdown, sobriety, and pottery. - Jane: It's like he killed himself rather than appear in our commercial.". It already has. This movie offers us the tale of the fall and redemption of an unscrupulous white lady -- who we know cannot really be unscrupulous since shes Sandra Bullock. Answer. [19] Additional filming occurred in Puerto Rico and Bolivia. The poor reviews of Our Brand is Crisis are puzzling, since its one of the few non-documentary films to show successfully a) what rip-roaring fun politics can be when its only about marketing and b) what terrible things can happen when its only about marketing. 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. Whats ultimately most frustrating is the evidence that the makers of this movie were fully capable of creating something as smart and ruthless as its lead character. They are then in a restaurant, the entire campaign team drinking heavily. Rivera is on, holding two babies during a campaign stop, confessing how hes doubly lucky, and promises to run a positive campaign. But the fact that it wants to also squeeze in a redemptive tale is completely at odds with the work the protagonist is doing. He calls the police and Jane is seen slapping an officer. Were not supposed to earnestly admire any of these people, but we are supposed to guiltily admire their unfailing ability to guide impossible undertakings, such as the practice of politics, to victory through whatever means. When the gunfire stops, the camera moves in on a boy sitting on the steps of a building, his head partly covered by his coat as if hes grabbing a nap. I love stories of politics as theaterthe stagecraft, scripting, wardrobe choices, and focus group testing of absurd commercials. [24], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. Jane suggests that Castillo reveal everything that could be used against him, but he refuses. At a large debate with all the candidates, Jane is found behind the stage backdrop during the debate. As the site's Chief Film Critic, he has authored hundreds of reviews and covered major film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. Cut back to the interview that opened the film. Honestly, I didnt know what to expect, on a number of levels. By Manohla Dargis. Ben says, ok. Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton go head to head as strategists in a patchy satire about the 2002 Bolivian elections. Mostly he is just a funny Southern person who served on a successful presidential campaign; the rest is projected onto him. She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. At another meeting with advisors, its revealed the crisis message is working, but not so well that it will win the election. He is currently 28 points behind. Theres no redemption to be found with the people who are ruining liveswho have no belief in politicians or voters; people who have basically given up on humanity and play with public policy like a kid with a loaded gun. All rights reserved. Our Brand Is Crisis Review: Champions of Cynicism | TIFF 2015. His name is too long with her so she just calls him Eddie. Candy reveals it was him (via a friend of a friend) who anonymously suggested to the Castillo campaign to hire Jane. Ben meets her in the hallway and she immediately says hes not a winner, and he cannot win. Facing a general strike and a series of confrontations between soldiers and protesters that left at least 67 civilians dead, Goni imposed martial law in October 2003, and the U.S. State Department issued a statement offering its full support. [5] On September 11, Scoot McNairy was added to the cast. [20], In July 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled the film for an October 30, 2015 release, during the awards season. Rated R 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. [4] It was theatrically released by Warner Bros. on October 30, 2015. In a Netflix comedy by Katharine McPhees stepdaughter. 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