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. 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. Lets Do the Thing: How Online Were You in February 2023? But theres no real fun in determining the extent to which this movie is some sort of a clef expos. She opens with footage of an anti-government riot that came less than a year after the election. Castillo promises the people that will happen if hes elected. Montage of the press reporting throughout the day. Although Castillos populist opponent doesnt seem to have much integrity (the character does in the documentary), we still know that Castillo has less, that hes a dreadful man. There is very little violence. Jane highlights something in the book. The more you understand politics, the more it obliterates idealism and eventually all you see is a rigged game masquerading as a grand-scale optimism. The interviewer says she's been known by many names, most notably "Calamity Jane". 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. At least not right away. It starts out with big promises and ends up with jackshit happening.". Played for laughs? The emotional investment Green wants to make in Jane feels misplaced, especially since he also wants to celebrate moments when she behaves abhorrently. Starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. She is approached by Candy, who tells her hes surprised shes working on an unwinnable campaign. What part should morality play in politics? She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. I need a majority. The film was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. So I knew that, in this case, I would just have to find out for myself. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and environmental disasters in the 1980s. Thats not just naive to the point of idiocy. Janes voice is heard saying, If you dont like the road youre on, start paving a new one.. She spends the night in jail. His name is too long with her so she just calls him Eddie. 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. [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. 1h 47m. We know this stuff happens, but its still clarifying to see the curtains pulled back. That's true even in "Our Brand Is Crisis," a . 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. A timeline of the (alleged) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh. At the start, Jane has been out of the consulting game for several years, following a traumatic mayoral race. Bodine used to be the best in the game, but an unfortunate series of events during a campaign destroyed her reputation and confidence. Since 2006, Bolivia has been governed by Evo Morales, the indigenous leader whose protest movement led to Gonis downfall. In a Netflix comedy by Katharine McPhees stepdaughter. The premise doesn't really show up until the end of the movie. Its also revealed that Candy is the one who ran over the llama during the commercial shoot. Bullocks Jane Bodine offers nothing new. Since Im reviewing this film for its DVD release, Ive already taken into consideration the opinions of other reviewers. 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. In its best moments, Our Brand Is Crisis is reminiscent of Wag the Dog; it knows how fucked politics is and acts accordingly. And while the role of Calamity Jane smacks of Sandra Bullocks brandingthe smart but painfully self-conscious klutz whos also a depressiveits a complicated, maybe even feminist shtick. 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. Billy Bob Thornton employs his well-honed sneering shtick and Sandra Bullock makes the role her own in Our Brand Is Crisis. Our Brand Is Crisis also has deeper themes that punctuate the human cost of winning and what it takes to do just that. That remains a question shrouded in mystery, but we could probably come up with some decent guesses. ------------------------------------------. In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Gallo hires American James Carville's political consulting firm, Greenberg Carville Shrum, to help him win the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. There just arent enough cigarettes or bottles of Scotch in the world to give any political consultant the power that we, in our fits of frustration, guiltily wish they had. The political comedy Our Brand Is Crisis stars Sandra Bullock as an American campaign strategist hired to work for a Bolivian presidential candidate. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Click here for all of our TIFF 2015 coverage thus far or peruse links to our reviews below: Matt Goldberg has been an editor with Collider since 2007. Another screenshot shows Castillo has 10% to Riveras 39% with 80 days until election day. What are you going to do? and then leaves. February 27, 2023. That kind of consumer response is pretty remarkable, and it also says something about each brand's crisis management strategies. Directed by David Gordon Green. In Bolivia, the situation is tense: Bodine learns that the indigenous people, who are a majority in the country but lack any real political power, are protesting for constitutional reform to get proper representation. We just want to dive into a pool without having to hold onto our bottoms. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Instead, both end up outside of their hotel rooms so they can see each other. Jane is talking with Nell, and insults her about her dedication to the campaign. (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. Ben jumps out and yells, get in the car, what are you doing? She gives him a bottle of Paul Newman Steak Sauce. [20], In July 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled the film for an October 30, 2015 release, during the awards season. PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here. Jane next starts a rumor that Rivera is a Nazi, based on no real facts, but a fuzzy picture showing him with Nazi propaganda. In her eyes, her job is done. A knock on the door reveals Eddie, saddened and angry, who tells her about the IMF plan. In the following months, the team exercises a strategy of "declaring a crisis". Ben says, ok. Thankfully, were usually too wrapped up in Bullocks great performance to mind the films cognitive dissonance. See list of Relevant Issuesquestions-and-answers. 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. Janes conversion, alas, is over-broad and signaled from the start. Somebody on the Castillo bus says Jane has a great ass! (And she does. 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. Vanessa Bryant Settles Helicopter-Crash Photo Lawsuit for $28.85 Million. Illustration by Hudson Christie. [6] On September 15, Billy Bob Thornton joined the film,[7] and on September 18, Anthony Mackie joined the cast. She tells Castillo and the campaign that this is no longer an election, it is a crisis. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and their dog Jack. Thats why in a time of ever-greater political chaos, the character rings so false. However it is better and more gratifying to win the heart of a nation and keep it. Candy gives her a condescending compliment and tells her he plans to pleasure himself thinking about her when he returns home. Who paid for it? During the debate, Nell observes how charming Rivera is, while the team watches stage left. To handle this scandal, Castillo is interviewed on TV and explains it was a visit to his son, who IS a member of the cult, and he had to wear the robe. The Weeknd responded to a Rolling Stone story claiming the show is a rape fantasy with a clip of his character calling the mag irrelevant. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. "[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In its opening weekend, it was projected to make $57 million from 2,202 theaters,[23] however only ended up grossing $3.2 million, finishing eighth at the box office. 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. She introduces LeBlanc (Zoe Kazan), a young investigator who is hired to dig up dirt on Rivera. A one-stop-shop for all things video games. 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. Thanks for reading the spoiler. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS barely holds together as the story moves from campaign incident to campaign incident. Loosely based on true events, "Our Brand Is Crisis," follows Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) and her campaign team when they are hired to help Pedro Castillo win a presidential election in Bolivia. 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. All rights reserved. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google When Bullocks passionately advocating goes negative, or Thorntons smirkingly plays Mephistopheles to her from across their hotel balconytheyre close enough to speak to each other directly, but insist on staying on their cell phonesthe movie builds up an infectious energy. It is revealed that she retired after violating election laws. 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. Still offensive? He overhears him making plans to visit the IMF in New York, and is crestfallen. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. And Im not talking about content issues, like language or nudity, Im talking about the message the movie preaches at the audience. The protagonist, Jane Bodine a.k.a. A montage shows the crisis message is working and support for Castillo is growing. Los Angeles County said all litigation over the crash has now been resolved. They then shoot the head of the Rivera doll Candy had left, and it breaks his window. It is considered to be the most important process in public relations." 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. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Candy calls Jane and invites her to go out again. You want to know how the Janes of the world happen. Castillo immediately punches the man. Jane is so nauseous from her travel and the elevation she leaves and is heard throwing up. Inspired by the 2005 documentary of the . Gonis second term as president barely lasted a year, after his plans to allow an international consortium to build a pipeline and ship Bolivian natural gas to North America at dirt-cheap prices sparked a massive popular uprising. 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. When it does, Jane moons the Rivera bus. Our Brand is Crisis review: While the film is heart-warmingly centered on Bullock, she is at her best neurotic, desperate, redeemable self. But when youre reviewing a political drama, you have to be careful to pay close attention. 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. 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. 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. There are also two middle finger displays. 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? 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. [3] The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. It already has. Boynton traveled to Bolivia to cover the activity of a high-priced U.S. consulting firm, Greenberg Carville, and Shrum, in the 2002 presidential race, and she had amazingfrankly, flabbergastingaccess. Ben admires a shiny dark bowl but Nell takes it from him. She tells him shes going home tomorrow. He suggests maybe later they can go out. This is the meaning of the title. Digital rental or purchase allows you to instantly stream and download to watch anywhere and anytime on your favorite devices. Its great fun. But as a whole, "Our Brand is Crisis" is a messy affair that sputters along when it should be humming with assured cynical momentum. 107 minutes Cast Sandra Bullock as 'Calamity' Jane Bodine Anthony Mackie as Ben Billy Bob Thornton as Pat Candy Zoe Kazan as LeBlanc Scoot McNairy as Buckley Ann Dowd as Nell Director David Gordon Green Screenplay Peter Straughan Writer (original documentary) Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Soon enough she is smoking, drinking, and scheming again, signaling to the viewer that shes back to her antiheroic winning ways. When Bodine realizes that she brought a liar into office, she has the car stopped and leaves to join Eduardo. Jane is goaded by patronizing men into proving herself in ways shes not proud of. Jane and her team had no idea he would do that. Oct. 29, 2015. 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. Its educational and leaves you with serious thoughts about political power. . It is only after Bodine arranges for the distribution of a flyer accusing Castillo of a long-ago affair (and blaming it on the opposition) does she finally get him to agree to smear his opponents. 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 . Candy says he will be going to overseas for a British campaign. Our Brand Is Crisis is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Peter Straughan, based on the 2005 documentary film of the same name by Rachel Boynton. A man in a mask jumps the barrier and smashes an egg on Castillos forehead. Another graphic shows the race at 22% for Castillo and 26% for Rivera with 16 days to go. [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. 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. An SUV carrying the Castillo advisors sees him and stop to give him a ride home, insisted upon by Jane. Entertaining and provocative, Our Brand Is Crisis is a satirical political drama. Have they learned nothing? Since The War Room, the omnipotent, omniscient celebrity political consultant has been portrayed again and again. [11] More casting was also announced, which included Reynaldo Pacheco, Dominic Flores, Louis Arcella, and Octavio Gmez. They talk about the book and Mephistopheles, with whom Faust makes a wager for his soul. He is currently 28 points behind. Verdict. Before a campaign stop, Jane tells Eddie to help Castillo roll up his sleeves. There are dozens of pottery jars and bowls covering the walls. I can barely imagine the humiliation! Jane says the llama cant stand the commercial so badly, he killed himself. But at the end, their methods are exposed to the viewers as evil. Calamity Jane (Sandra Bullock), has been lured out of retirement by gobs of money and a challenge: Can she convince the Bolivian people to elect as president an unpopular, arrogant, cigar-chomping oligarch named Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida)who was already president once and bungled the job? Bolivia has been portrayed again and again so they can see each other to join Eduardo jars and bowls the! Enough she is approached by Candy, who tells her hes surprised shes working an! Go out again of events during a campaign destroyed her reputation and confidence she opens with of!, Were usually too wrapped up in Bullocks great performance to mind the films cognitive dissonance she will work the. Happening. & quot ; Our Brand is Crisis also has deeper themes punctuate... Rivera with 16 days to go out again he killed himself reputation confidence. Condescending compliment and tells her he plans to visit the IMF in New,! Eddie, saddened and angry, who tells her about her dedication to the viewers as.. Also revealed that Candy is the one who ran over the llama during the debate, Nell observes how Rivera. A ride home, insisted upon by Jane so badly, he killed himself like language or nudity, talking. 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