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. [29], "Box-Office Preview: Halloween Forecast Bleak for 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Sandra Bullock's 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Robert Redford's 'Truth' to Premiere at Toronto", "Sandra Bullock and David Gordon Green Team on 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Scoot McNairy Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Billy Bob Thornton in Talks to Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Anthony Mackie Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis', "Joaquim de Almeida, Zoe Kazan Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Participant Boards David Gordon Green's 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "The real story of "Our Brand Is Crisis" is how we screwed up Bolivia: Behind the bland Sandra Bullock movie lies another strange-but-true tale of botched American meddling", "Sandra Bullock in Talks to Star in George Clooney-Produced 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "George Clooney's 'Our Brand Is Crisis' sets Metairie casting call", "Louisiana Film TV Production Jobs Hotline September 23, 2014", "Political drama starring A-listers films in Norco", "Reynaldo Pacheco Is The Beating Heart In 'Our Brand Is Crisis', "Sandra Bullock's 'Crisis' Gets Awards Season Release Date", "Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) - Box Office Mojo", "Bradley Cooper, 'The Martian' To Scare Away Sandra Bullock & 'Scouts' At Halloween B.O. It is considered to be the most important process in public relations." She will work on the campaign of anybody, provided the money is right. Our Brand is Crisis was one of these pleasant surprises. Maybe its time to put it out to pasture. As president in the mid-90s, he had pursued a controversial two-level strategy, extending constitutional rights and policy reforms aimed at Bolivias large indigenous population while also embarking on a widespread campaign of privatization that sold off state-owned industries and natural resources to foreign capital. Eventually Eddie sees her and they make eye contact. After he does this, Castillo gives Eddie his cufflinks to hold, and it is clear Eddie idolizes him. 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. Our Brand is Crisis hits a lot of clunky notes and the end is unforgivably cornball, but it's still one of the liveliest political black comedies I've seen in a while. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and their dog Jack. 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. The pacing is lickety-split, the talk is boisterous, and the cast is all aces. This film isnt as dark as Burnt, and has more amusing moments, including some comic relief, but still shouldnt be classified as a comedy. Arriving at Janes house, she explains she has quit smoking and drinking and has focused on pottery. And sometimesin fact, I daresay oftenyou know about a half hour into a film that youre going to have to censure it. One woman says he has a weird smile. Castillo had been coached by Jane that if he senses any emotion or tears, to look directly into the camera. Ideology? During a debate prep session, Castillo and Jane engage in a heated argument in which Jane says they are all just puppets in the political game, and that nobody is in charge. Nevertheless, theres not much reason for you to take my word over theirs. [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. Kristen Bell to Befriend an Unorthodox Rabbi. Candy goes on to tell Jane, If you fight with monsters too long, you become a monster. Jane later says that shell kill herself if she loses to Candy again (though this appears to be hyperbole) She has lost every election against him. Jane yells out the window to Candy that Rivera has dropped 6 points. (A heavy back story is subsequently revealed, followed by an ever heavier back story to the back story.) Mostly he is just a funny Southern person who served on a successful presidential campaign; the rest is projected onto him. She reveals she has had mental issues before and suffered from depression. Let me know how that goes. Jane then joins the mass of people who are walking toward the city. Our Brand is Crisis was released across all major streaming and cable platforms on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Afterwards, Jane sends 3 Bolivian singers to show up at Candys door. 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. Jane meets with Castillo who says shes a liability. The filmmakers and their stars have fun with the idea that politics is sex for those who want to keep their clothes on. Either the character repents, and you have a cornball ending, or the character doesnt, and you have a soapy endorsement of sociopathy. Ben says, ok. A man in a mask jumps the barrier and smashes an egg on Castillos forehead. It is revealed that she retired after violating election laws. Crisis management examples are easy to find these days: We've seen Uber lose 200,000 users in the wake of #DeleteUber and United lose $800 million in value in just a few hours. 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. Yes, this is a movie where a diabolical character is given the surname Candy, and what can you really say? [17][18] Filming also took place in the Bonnet Carr Spillway in Norco in St. Charles Parish. She gives him a bottle of Paul Newman Steak Sauce. Since The War Room, the omnipotent, omniscient celebrity political consultant has been portrayed again and again. Since 2006, Bolivia has been governed by Evo Morales, the indigenous leader whose protest movement led to Gonis downfall. 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. By Manohla Dargis. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. Soon enough she is smoking, drinking, and scheming again, signaling to the viewer that shes back to her antiheroic winning ways. 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. Back at the hotel room, Jane is with Eddie and his brothers, ordering room service and still drunk. 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? David Gordon Green keeps the perspectives shifting, getting lots of good angles on this three-ring circus. The disillusioned Eduardo joins his brothers at a demonstration of people demanding change. Their main tactic is to emphasize the many problems of the economy and present . 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. Whats ultimately most frustrating is the evidence that the makers of this movie were fully capable of creating something as smart and ruthless as its lead character. Jane expresses to Ben that she still gets nauseous whenever she sees Castillo. Vanessa Bryant Settles Helicopter-Crash Photo Lawsuit for $28.85 Million. The campaign believes Castillo should apologize as soon as possible but Jane disagrees. 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. But if you can be wary of those things, I do recommend this film. [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. From there, Jane uses every trick at her disposal to try and beat Candy. So yes, throughout the film, the protagoniststhe ones portrayed as good guysuse communistic propaganda. She looks across the large foyer to see Candy sitting outside his room. A shame, then, that the movie loses its cynical nerve with an utterly phoney finale that ties itself up in conscientious knots. Our Brand Is Crisis Review: Champions of Cynicism | TIFF 2015. She comes to realize shes better than that. That is, of course, when you can get her out of 'retirement' and give her a good reason to . 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. There are also two middle finger displays. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. The American consultants, not knowing the language or the culture of Bolivia, are persuaded by Bodine, a burned out veteran of American politics, to follow a strategy of smear campaigning to make up for their candidate's shortcomings. Nevertheless, his brothers are much more skeptical about Castillo. Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant strategist, pulse reader and marketing mind. Rivera is on, holding two babies during a campaign stop, confessing how hes doubly lucky, and promises to run a positive campaign. 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. She tells him shes going home tomorrow. He suggests maybe later they can go out. But Boynton has done her own framing: This campaign is a precursor to tragedy. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. 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. Both Bullock and Thornton portray Carvillesque characters (and the bald Thornton looks the part). A montage shows the crisis message is working and support for Castillo is growing. Bodine and her crew join Candy on the way to the airport. Please share it with your friends rnum=Math.round(Math.random() * 100000); : What The Hell Happened? She meets the campaign team but stays in the background at the first meeting, clearly feeling ill. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. 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. Her words are intercut with footage of newspaper headlines and, oddly, shots of Bullocks hands molding clay at a pottery wheel. They just decided to be ingratiating and sentimental. 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. 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. [3], The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Exactly who decided that a widely disliked candidate in such a small country merited such attention, alongside such star GCS clients as Tony Blair, the Israeli Labor Party and the Canadian Liberal Party? At the start, Jane has been out of the consulting game for several years, following a traumatic mayoral race. This is a competent film that shows how foxy political campaigns can be. Some said it was insightful. As a result of this, Castillo agrees to start running a negative campaign. The deception disgusts her. 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. Candy can be seen watching the action in the background. 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. The pacing is. At a Rivera campaign stop, Jane is seen talking to Candy. Um, yes. I found the film to be very interesting, and all the cast put on some of their best performances Ive seen. Candy says he will be going to overseas for a British campaign. When Bodine realizes that she brought a liar into office, she has the car stopped and leaves to join Eduardo. The film gives a fictionalized account of the involvement of American political campaign strategists Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. ***SPOILER*** Castillo wins the election, and immediately breaks all his promises and turns out to be a tyrant. She may get some help in getting into the mindset of that indigenous poor through a campaign volunteer named Eddie, a Castillo loyalist since he was a young boy much to the chagrin of his friends. 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. 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