Our Brand Is Crisis
— This is an uneven film that’s neither satire nor comedy nor drama. It’s lucky to have Sandra Bullock associated with it since, whatever she’s doing, she seems to grab our attention, and Billy Bob Thorton is good as her rival. It’s also based on a very good documentary, an interesting trend this year. The film seems like it could have been better—just dropping the discordant ending would have helped—but it was still worth seeing. Political strategist Bullock battles Thorton, using American tactics to bolster an unpopular Bolivian presidential candidate’s re-election campaign, and the result is both disturbing and entertaining, perhaps more so in the midst of our current presidential campaigns and knowing the situation is based on an election about ten years ago. The film was more appealing than I had expected it to be but my expectations had been greatly lowered given the bad press “Our Brand Is Crisis” and “Burnt” both received.
[2015. 107 min. Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thorton, and Anthony Mackie.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/movies/review-in-our-brand-is-crisis-the-war-room-goes-to-bolivia.html
I finally saw this film on DVD, and I did enjoy it, but I guess I am partial to Sandra Bullock. What was interesting to us when watching the film was seeing a polictial machine in another country. I guess I assume, only americans are insane enough to go through this type of political chicanery.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Judy. If you get a chance to see the original documentary, check it out--interesting to see how each film deals with the event. In both, it's fascinating to see Americans political spin at work. (I'm partial to Sandra Bullock too!)
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