Plot out uproarious long-shot tricks against his opponents that always seem to work out even better than hoped? Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) Plot Showing all 5 items Jump to: Summaries (4) Synopsis (1) Summaries 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. Janes cynicismshe regards herself, the candidate, and everyone else as a pawnis so over-the-top that it threatens to derail Our Brand is Crisis: Who cares about the election if she doesnt? In its best moments, Our Brand Is Crisis is reminiscent of Wag the Dog; it knows how fucked politics is and acts accordingly. [26] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. Soon enough she is smoking, drinking, and scheming again, signaling to the viewer that shes back to her antiheroic winning ways. But it never keeps the energy up, steering into forced visual gags, dull spells of earnestness, and ponderous backstory psychologythe viewer never is quite sure who really did what to whom in the Candy-Bodine love-hate relationship. Available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Apple, Vudu and others. Jane says that Pat Candy is behind the fliers. One of the llamas is hit by a truck. 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. She doesnt believe hell catch her and he expresses disbelief. 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. But it seems as though screenwriter Peter Straughan and director David Gordon Green realized near the end that theyd written a feature-length film celebrating consultants ability to install a lying, oligarchic, IMF-beholden stooge to a South American presidency, and decided they ought to wrap things up more palatably. But every once in a while, you come across a movie that seems to be driving an evil message all the way through, and then suddenly the ending takes a moral turn and shows that the protagonists were wrong. Jane next starts a rumor that Rivera is a Nazi, based on no real facts, but a fuzzy picture showing him with Nazi propaganda. Andrew O'Hehir is executive editor of Salon. When shes recruited for a chance to face off in Bolivia against her longtime and similarly depraved rival, Pat Candyportrayed convincingly enough as a stock Billy Bob Thornton character by Billy Bob Thorntonshe signs up. Now, the film is so heavily fictionalized that it's much more an emotive or thematic . PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here. Starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. They reluctantly agree, but the city is in gridlock due to the protests, which are on the verge of becoming riots. Kristen Bell to Befriend an Unorthodox Rabbi. All rights reserved. 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. Critic Kenneth Turan has this review. Candy says he will be going to overseas for a British campaign. The protagonist, Jane Bodine a.k.a. 17-Down, Three Letters: Party for One artist Carly ___ Jepsen. Its very obvious when shes going to do it, so it would be easy for viewers to close their eyes until all the yelling and laughter dies down. [24], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The deception disgusts her. Then Jane figures out a hook: To make Castillo more attractive than the frontrunner (a young, engaged populist who represents hope and change), she has to sell the idea that the country doesnt need someone, well, likable. [5] On September 11, Scoot McNairy was added to the cast. [3] The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. I love stories of politics as theaterthe stagecraft, scripting, wardrobe choices, and focus group testing of absurd commercials. Maybe its time to put it out to pasture. Yes, this is a movie where a diabolical character is given the surname Candy, and what can you really say? Janes sidekicksplayed by Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy, and Zoe Kazancant make a dent in Castillos mixture of machismo, cluelessness, and the kind of self-serving patriarchal worldview that regards Bolivias indigenous population as a bunch of children who dont know whats good for them. Billy Bob Thornton employs his well-honed sneering shtick and Sandra Bullock makes the role her own in Our Brand Is Crisis. Thanks for reading the spoiler. Send your questions or comments about this or any other spoiler to: THEMOVIESPOILER.com. Since Im reviewing this film for its DVD release, Ive already taken into consideration the opinions of other reviewers. She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. Jane gets blasted, leaks misinformation, vandalizes Candys room, and sabotages his candidates rallies the way he sabotaged her candidates. Privacy Policy and She spends the night in jail. The pacing is. There's only one wrong in this, only one, and that is losing!". This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google He denies being a member of the cult. 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. But the filmmakers invent an antagonist of near-mythic stature to make her lust for a win: Billy Bob Thorntons Pat Candy, who works for the leading candidate. It received mixed reviews, despite Bullock's performance being largely praised, and was a box office disappointment. When Jane leaves the meeting with LeBlanc, she instead instructs her to dig up dirt on Castillo, their own candidate. 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. 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. 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. Jane suggests that Castillo reveal everything that could be used against him, but he refuses. He does exactly that, to Janes delight, when explaining hes not close to his son, but he wishes he was, with tears in his eyes. A knock on the door reveals Eddie, saddened and angry, who tells her about the IMF plan. . The next scene shows the state department giving an anti-cocaine speech, which will help Volasco. Written by Peter Straughan, and according to its credits inspired by the 2005 documentary film of the same name, Our Brand is Crisis uneasily mixes the star vehicle with the screwball-political-comedy/satire with the (half-heartedly, in the end) impassioned call to social consciousness arms. She pulls from her bag the pottery bowl that Ben was admiring in the first scene, and hands it to him before climbing out of the car. She doesnt respond. 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. 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. Busy Phillips Is Not Like a Regular Mom, Shes a Cool Mom, Theres nothing wrong with Busy Phillips being cast as Mrs. George in the upcoming, In Search of Tom and Katies Bubba Painting, Maybe punting on the larger plot can be forgiven if we get a sweet. [23], Eric Kohn from Indiewire wrote that the movie is all about Bullock's performance, saying "she imbues her part with a ferocious energy that constantly elevates the straightforward material". It's a case study, if nothing else, of starting with a dubious idea and making it downright awful. Thats not just naive to the point of idiocy. We get on Janes adrenaline kick when she wins, but the movie rarely questions the deeper ramifications of her actions. They even resort to publishing photos of their enemy with Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie in the background, so that he has to deny being a Nazi. He is currently 28 points behind. When youre in the movie reviewing ministry, a variety of messages and agendas come and go. When it does, Jane moons the Rivera bus. January 14, 2016. But when youre reviewing a political drama, you have to be careful to pay close attention. In my review of the documentary, I wrote: The process of framing Goni to look like something he isnt could be the stuff of a rambunctious campaign comedy like Primary Colors or, for that matter, the documentary The War Room And parts of Our Brand Is Crisis are darkly amusing. Its yoked to an impoverished Bolivian teenager who believesdespite the angry effusions of his brother and friends in their hillside slumthat Castillo is sincere in trying to bring about economic equality. Her words are intercut with footage of newspaper headlines and, oddly, shots of Bullocks hands molding clay at a pottery wheel. Jane says it will be an honor. 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. Let me know how that goes. Jane then joins the mass of people who are walking toward the city. 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. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd and Joaquim de Almeida. Jane is a broken prizefighter who has been called into the ring for one last round. On a table she finds a Rivera doll. 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 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. At another meeting with advisors, its revealed the crisis message is working, but not so well that it will win the election. They make a sling shot out of clothes and shoot something that splatters against Candys window across the foyer. 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). Castillo says its in the past, and that his wife knows about it, but Jane claims the perception will be that hes an adulterer. Director David Gordon Green Writers Rachel Boynton (suggested by the documentary) Peter Straughan (screenplay) Stars Sandra Bullock Please share it with your friends rnum=Math.round(Math.random() * 100000); At the start of the campaign, which he's hired an American consulting firm to run, he is 28 points behind in the polls and running sixth in the crowded field, he, a globalist, largely seen by the indigenous poor majority, representing approximately 50 percent of the population, as being an elitist, out of touch with their needs and thus generally disliked as a personality. "Our Brand is Crisis" was one of these pleasant surprises. Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC Renew22 grouping believes Eastern Cape . 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. Maybe, kinda. There is only one wrong thing to do, she says: Losing. They approach each other and she just smiles. 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