What the hell was James Carville and Stan Greenbergs consulting firm with its close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party leadership class doing in one of South Americas smallest and poorest nations? 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. Senator Pedro Castillo, President of Bolivia 15 years ago, is once again running for the country's top job. The protest is growing in the city. A young man working on the campaign, Eduardo (Reynaldo Pacheco) comes to the rescue of Castillo and ushers him away. 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. Instead, both end up outside of their hotel rooms so they can see each other. "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. You want to know how the Janes of the world happen. Honestly, I didnt know what to expect, on a number of levels. [9] On October 10, Joaquim de Almeida and Zoe Kazan joined the cast, with Almeida playing Castillo, the former president of Bolivia, and Kazan playing a young woman who finds dirt on political candidates. Later Castillo is heard instructing interest rates to be raised to 15%. 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. 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. Eduardo, a young volunteer of the Castillo campaign, is deeply impressed by this show of commitment. It already has. And yet in David Gordon Greens tale of political fixers, Our Brand Is Crisis, he wants to find hope. During a focus group for the ad in which he catches and holds up several people, its clear the ad does not resonate with anybody. Castillo immediately punches the man. Answer. It also sets up a Hollywood ending that all but wrecks the movie. Digital rental or purchase allows you to instantly stream and download to watch anywhere and anytime on your favorite devices. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Since 2006, Bolivia has been governed by Evo Morales, the indigenous leader whose protest movement led to Gonis downfall. I can barely imagine the humiliation! All rights reserved. Jane is a broken prizefighter who has been called into the ring for one last round. Jane insists to the campaign team that this was set up by Candy. In the city, Eddie is hanging Castillo posters. ***SPOILER*** Castillo wins the election, and immediately breaks all his promises and turns out to be a tyrant. Mick LaSalle. Eddie and his brothers join the protests and are shouting angry chants. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. It's a case study, if nothing else, of starting with a dubious idea and making it downright awful. Power? He tells a story about a campaign run by Adlai Stevenson in which Stevenson is told everything thinking person would vote for him, to which Stevenson replies that is not enough. Its also revealed that Candy is the one who ran over the llama during the commercial shoot. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jason The film starts with Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) being interviewed. There are dozens of pottery jars and bowls covering the walls. Inspired by the 2005 documentary of the . Castillo wins the vote by a small margin. Although she was once a wunderkind of the political strategy community, she lost her last four campaigns, the speculation that being the reason she dropped out of sight. Meanwhile, Thornton employs his well-honed smiling/sneering shtick to nicely nasty effect. She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. Its educational and leaves you with serious thoughts about political power. [10] On October 13, 2014, Participant Media announced that they would co-finance the film with Warner, while Jeffrey Skoll and Jonathan King would executive produce, along with Bullock and Stuart M. Comedy-Drama. The pottery business is explained forthwith, lest were worried about some Ghost influence. Now, the film is so heavily fictionalized that it's much more an emotive or thematic . It is only the knowing, salty political consultant who can bridge the gap between political reality and tidy fictional narrative. 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. 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. In the following months, the team exercises a strategy of "declaring a crisis". But the fact that it wants to also squeeze in a redemptive tale is completely at odds with the work the protagonist is doing. [19] Additional filming occurred in Puerto Rico and Bolivia. All this makes for mid-grade entertainment value, at best. From there, Jane uses every trick at her disposal to try and beat Candy. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. In the mix is a fine supporting cast including a sensational Thornton . 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. All rights reserved. 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. The pacing is lickety-split, the talk is boisterous, and the cast is all aces. 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. Jane invites them out to dinner with the campaign team. He wants to find triumph in a tale that should be satiric at best and depressing at worst. Castillo is frustrated and wants to hear what Jane has planned for the campaign. Negative ads are now running for Castillos campaign. (The daughter killed herself as a result.). (A heavy back story is subsequently revealed, followed by an ever heavier back story to the back story.) Things you buy through our links may earnNew Yorka commission. Mimicking the behavior in the actresss previous film, Minions, Jane is shown mooning a bus. 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. Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC Renew22 grouping believes Eastern Cape . Sandra Bullock (who shares producer credits with, among others, George Clooney and Grant Heslov) is the reclusive political strategist Calamity Jane Bodine, who turned her back on her profession after one dirty trick too many. 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. The women of, Sam Levinson and the Weeknd Allegedly Turned, Theres No Red Button You Can Push to Stop. [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. Eddie is delivering a framed photograph to now President-Elect Castillos Senate offices. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. Back on the bus, Castillo explain to Eddie that an effective leader is a father to the people, and that sometimes a father must be strict. She doesnt respond. During the final debate, Bodine cites a quote in a conversation with Candy (knowing that he'll give it to rival candidate Rivera for his speech) saying that "a great man" said it. Does he drink too much? She can quote appropriate nuggets of wisdom from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and from the world's leaders and thinkers. 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 . In addition, there are 20+ f-words, s-words (19), and one each of a**, SOB, p*ssed, p*ssy, b*stard, b***h, tw*t, cr*p, and t*rd. . I say, beat Candy because Jane doesnt really care that much about Castillo or Bolivia. 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. She realizes that she was deceived by Castillo, just like she was attempting to deceive the people of Bolivia. That's true even in "Our Brand Is Crisis," a . The film is directed by David. A graphic shows with 24 days left until the election, Castillo has 19% and Rivera has 30%. Our Brand is Crisis review: While the film is heart-warmingly centered on Bullock, she is at her best neurotic, desperate, redeemable self. Our Brand is Crisis may be director David Gordon Green's most sterile picture yet, but it's redeemed somewhat by Sandra Bullock's lead performance, as well as a talented ensemble cast . Sometimes its both, as in Kathy Bates sharp-tongued, soft-hearted adviser in Primary Colors. I have to rate it Offensive, due to its foul language, several blasphemies, and Sandra Bullocks bare hiny. The last movie I reviewed was Burnt, which was called a comedy by many, but I found it not to be a comedy at alljust a drama with occasional humor. The firm brings in "Calamity" Jane Bodine to manage Castillo's fledging campaign. 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. When Jane realizes how much she hurt the country, shes so upset that she actually quits her business and joins the protesters. Can Hollywood find a way to take the political consultant character in a new direction? Jane tells him this is the way of politics, and its not her job to solve problems after the election. Jane next starts a rumor that Rivera is a Nazi, based on no real facts, but a fuzzy picture showing him with Nazi propaganda. Maybe Carville and the Clintonocracy were empowering democracy after all, even if it wasnt quite the variety they intended. While it would have been nice if the supporting characters were just as well developed (Candys entire purpose seems to be to enter a scene, taunt Jane, and then leave), Jane is a compelling figure, and its unfortunate that the film doesnt match her complexity. Preview", "Star-Driven Casualties 'Our Brand Is Crisis' & 'Burnt' At The B.O. It received mixed reviews, despite Bullock's performance being largely praised, and was a box office disappointment. She tells Nell she needs to pull some string with her contacts at the Bolivian State Department, in order to take votes from Castillo, and give them to Volasco (another candidate). Please share it with your friends rnum=Math.round(Math.random() * 100000); Another graphic shows the race at 22% for Castillo and 26% for Rivera with 16 days to go. A shame, then, that the movie loses its cynical nerve with an utterly phoney finale that ties itself up in conscientious knots. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and their dog Jack. Another screenshot shows Castillo has 10% to Riveras 39% with 80 days until election day. The premise doesn't really show up until the end of the movie. However, Castillo refuses to give permission for the team to do so. Mick LaSalle is the film critic for the San . She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. The train begins to leave and Candy is furious. Jane meets with Castillo who says shes a liability. This film isnt as dark as Burnt, and has more amusing moments, including some comic relief, but still shouldnt be classified as a comedy. Initially under the impression that her man is a dud, Jane is soon animated by Castillos spontaneous response to getting egged (that is, he decks the egger) and her personal animus against Candy. Goni was in effect the candidate of the Washington consensus, the guy who would bring a small, fractious and deeply divided country into the established international economic order. The insistent, intrusive music score by David Wingo doesnt help matters, and neither do the too-many subsequent montages, all of which are of the always mistaken We Need A Montage variety. Privacy Policy and She is unable to breath and is using an oxygen mask on the car ride to campaign headquarters. 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