Sandra Bullock faces a nearly impossible deficit, in the political strategic drama “Our Brand Is Crisis”. In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Gallo (a fictionalized version of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada) hires American James Carville’s political consulting firm, Greenberg Carville Shrum, to help him win the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. GCS brings in Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) to manage the campaign in Bolivia. Battling her arch nemesis, the opposition’s political consultant Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), Bodine successfully uses American political campaign strategies to help Gallo overcome insurmountable odds, while exercising her own demons with her troubled past while facing off against Candy. “Our Brand Is Crisis” gave me a nice hand taught lesson about political satire and how campaigns are run. It’s a very informative piece, but it promises too much in the trailer, and (like candidates in general) never comes through on such promises.
The movie works best when it’s played straight forward, while focusing on a country that can’t afford another losing political term. This country seeks action fast, and they seek it now. There are some nice principal photography shots of the country, including many poor ghettos that find it hard to believe any more in political promises. There’s a lot of history here with the candidates who are running, and I found myself being placed in the position of these citizens, with trying to choose the right man for the job with so much on the line. There’s a lot to be said about the many directions that the film takes us creatively (more on that later), but i greatly enjoyed the third act of this film, when a swerve takes place that really kind of rocks the foundation of everything that Peter Straughan’s script had built up to this point. It’s an ending that i think a lot of people will have problems with, but i see it as the only clear answer that gives it an honest touch for such a dishonest game.
The compliments are more than likely going to stop there, as this film has many flaws that dragged it down for me. Bullock is on point, even if this isn’t another Oscar nomination for her. She has become pretty typecast as playing the girl with the flawed backstory, but people will cheer her on because she is America’s sweetheart. There isn’t really anything different in this film in those regards, but where the movie really suffered was in it’s choices to make the audience laugh, while trying to cool off from these scenes of tension. I can’t understand why this movie decided the audience needed this, but it acts as nothing but a distraction for the political narrative that moves along pretty smoothly in the first act, but then hits a wall in the second. There was a point in this movie for about twenty minutes where it becomes a slapstick comedy. The film’s subplot of Bodine Vs Candy was obviously going to overtake the presidential race, but it’s really like the movie forgets about the latter so insensitively. For a rivalry that is so personal, it becomes a game of who can top who, a-la “Grumpy Old Men”. It’s a damaging area for a script that had a lot of promise, and I just can’t conjure what Straughan was going for to win over the viewers who were here for much for than Sandy-Schtick.
That brings me to my next problem of the film: Thornton’s character. I am actually a big Thornton fan, and i think he has proven at times how easy he can single handedly carry a film. But “Out Brand Is Crisis” is NOT one of those times. His character is written as the nastiest slime ball, with this torturous dialogue reminiscent of a high school jock hitting on the girl he likes. Everything from scratching his genitals, to talking about masturbation while thinking of Bullock’s character is remarked upon. How can anyone take this movie seriously after scenes like this are presented? What planet did this character come from? He shows up like a snake every fifteen minutes or so to remind you that he is still there, and Ihonestly didn’t feel like he added anything to the movie. One could argue that his rivalry with Bullock is the most important foreground of the story, but i don’t think we ever actually needed to see his character. It could’ve easily been talked about in a conversation scene, and the movie would’ve been a lot better morally for it.
Overall, i can only recommend this movie on DVD. It’s kind of a disappointment, even when i wasn’t expecting much from it. The most impactful moments are during the final fifteen minutes of the film, but the damage has been done gigantically up to that point. “Our Brand Is Crisis” is a film that has some nice political banter, as well as insight into the way political campaigns are run, while they are on the edge of elimination. Bullock takes a page from director David Gordon Green’s film, and has to win this race for her candidate before it’s too late. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t overcome the even bigger handicaps it created for itself, during a dumbed down screenplay. Don’t endorse this candidate, instead, check out the real life documentary of the same name. It’s all of the strategy without any of the tongue in cheek parody. Sadly, “Our Brand Is Crisis” isn’t as hard hitting, or thought provoking as it should be.
5/10