I love stories of politics as theaterthe stagecraft, scripting, wardrobe choices, and focus group testing of absurd commercials. 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. [27] Peter Debruge from Variety thought that Jane Bodine, played by Bullock, "is easily one of the best female roles of the last 10 years,"[28] while Benjamn Lee from The Guardian wrote that "Bullock seems blissfully unaware of the films faults and delivers a performance that expertly plays on her strengths - her comic timing, wasted in lesser, plane-ready comedies, is on top form and she imbues her neurotic character with more than the thinly sketched quirks provided on the page; she commands a room when needed, perfects scenes of physical comedy and even turns a climax of forced sentiment into something poignant and believable"; he concluded that "while the film is patchy, Bullock's brand is confidently crisis-free". The boys (all adult age) are living alone because their parents have both died. . Although I hasten to add that even by the standards of Bullocks implacable, steel-jawed underacting this is a dull performance. The crisis, when it came . They then shoot the head of the Rivera doll Candy had left, and it breaks his window. Castillo wins the vote by a small margin. Since 2006, Bolivia has been governed by Evo Morales, the indigenous leader whose protest movement led to Gonis downfall. Even worse, it turns out to be a humanist, socialist, anti-capitalist message about "the people" rising up to establish some sort of vague communist brotherhood centered . Who was really paying for their work with Goni, an unpopular former president who had spent much of his life in the United States and spoke Spanish so poorly that Bolivian opponents derided him as El Gringo? The protagonist, Jane Bodine a.k.a. 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. The story follows a political strategist who's recruited to help the campaign of a Bolivian presidential. The message I got from this movie was very positive. Answer. Some said it was insightful. For people who want the vastly more interesting real history of Americas misbegotten meddling in Bolivia just one chapter, of course, in a much larger global story Boyntons film is out there, and so is what happened later. ", "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. Did Cirie go too far by bringing family matters into the game? A one-stop-shop for all things video games. They approach each other and she just smiles. [22], 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. The film is directed by David. Castillo is frustrated and wants to hear what Jane has planned for the campaign. Ben says, ok. Who paid for it? Others discuss plans but Jane is silent. [21] It had a wide release in 2,202 theaters for 21 days. And in the real Bolivian election of 02, there was no rivalry between warring American spin doctors working for different candidates, because Goni was the only candidate who got that kind of help, in clear preference to his populist opponents on both the right and left. From that day on, she says, our brand is crisis.. He wants to find triumph in a tale that should be satiric at best and depressing at worst. Mostly he is just a funny Southern person who served on a successful presidential campaign; the rest is projected onto him. Jane wants to overtake it. They reluctantly agree, but the city is in gridlock due to the protests, which are on the verge of becoming riots. But theres no real fun in determining the extent to which this movie is some sort of a clef expos. Jane says it will be an honor. Finally, she meets with Castillo for their first conversation. The campaign believes Castillo should apologize as soon as possible but Jane disagrees. - Jane: It's like he killed himself rather than appear in our commercial.". Somebody on the Castillo bus says Jane has a great ass! (And she does. 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. Although this is yet another nice white lady who benevolently comes to the aid of a non-white young person (in the case of Our Brand Is Crisis, it's a campaign intern who idolizes Castillo), Bullock shows a lot more shading here than in The Blind Side. 17-Down, Three Letters: Party for One artist Carly ___ Jepsen. Like before, it came from La Paz Grassroots, but this time it really did come from Candy. Jane is on the set but is only seen in the background on a lounge chair, still looking unwell. 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. Lets Do the Thing: How Online Were You in February 2023? Sometimes its melodramaticthink the sinister Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Ides of March, or most notably, Kevin Spaceys snaky Frank Underwood, the master strategist and politician bundled into one on House of Cards. Candy says he will be going to overseas for a British campaign. He denies being a member of the cult. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. On a campaign bus heading toward a remote Bolivia location on a small dirt road, they discover Riveras bus is directly ahead of them. She needs a cigarette, so she walks out the door into a large open foyer. The deception disgusts her. The political comedy Our Brand Is Crisis stars Sandra Bullock as an American campaign strategist hired to work for a Bolivian presidential candidate. On April 22, 2007, it was announced that George Clooney would produce a dramatization of the 2005 documentary Our Brand Is Crisis, along with Grant Heslov, and Warner Bros. would handle American distribution rights. I need a majority. Power? But once in Bolivia, shes sidelined by acute altitude sickness (the flight down is accompanied by a primer on the geography and general stressed disposition of the place), and hence unable to immediately show her Sun-Tzu-informed genius to uptight candidate Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida). 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. "Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. Directed by David Gordon Green. 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. Instead, both end up outside of their hotel rooms so they can see each other. [13] On December 11, 2013, Sandra Bullock was in early talks to star in the film, while Clooney chose not to direct, and his starring in the film was also unconfirmed at that time. [5] On September 11, Scoot McNairy was added to the cast. (R. 107 minutes.) But when youre reviewing a political drama, you have to be careful to pay close attention. However, Castillo refuses to give permission for the team to do so. [11] More casting was also announced, which included Reynaldo Pacheco, Dominic Flores, Louis Arcella, and Octavio Gmez. She showed how American marketing techniques never before used in that region steered a desperate country towards a rich, arrogant former president Gonzalo Snchez de Lozada (Goni), who proved catastrophically out of touch. After a traumatizing career as a political campaign consultant, Bodine has retired to the snowy mountains, where she doesnt smoke and makes bowls. Its pretty powerful, actually. Is it money? And sometimesin fact, I daresay oftenyou know about a half hour into a film that youre going to have to censure it. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate to heavys. Jane suggests that Castillo reveal everything that could be used against him, but he refuses. But the main mystery to me was the message of this film. When it does, Jane moons the Rivera bus. (The daughter killed herself as a result.). A llama is shown getting hit by a car. Some said it was staunchly communist. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. Starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. What are you going to do? and then leaves. 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. That was almost certainly the final straw. Jane is so nauseous from her travel and the elevation she leaves and is heard throwing up. Although the movie has flashes where everything comes together and we can revel in dark victories, more often than not, star Sandra Bullock is left to carry the crushing emotional and thematic weight of a confused picture that acknowledges that politics is a cheap joke, and then expects us all to laugh. She moved to a mountain cabin, stopped smoking, got sober, and started doing pottery. Our Brand is Crisis review: While the film is heart-warmingly centered on Bullock, she is at her best neurotic, desperate, redeemable self. 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