Our Brand is Crisis
Director: David Gordon Green
Talent: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Joaquim de Almeida
Release Date: 22nd Jan 2016
Our Brand is Crisis, partially based on a 2005 documentary of the same name, revolves around the eccentric political consultant Jane Bodine (Bullock) plucked from her isolated mountain cabin of a retirement home to aid an American consultancy firm in helping struggling candidate Pedro Castillo (Almeida) win the 2002 Bolivian election. Things become personal for Bodine upon discovery that her nemesis, fellow consultant Pat Candy (Thornton), has been helping the opposition who is currently leading in the polls.
The film’s gigantic mistake is failing to acknowledge that it is nigh impossible to strike a sincere and cynical tone simultaneously. Green doesn’t commit enough to the idea that the electoral candidates – and Bolivia in general – have become pawns in the petty rivalry of two displaced Americans. The potential for the film to be a biting and hilarious satire is adulterated by the treacly and overly sentimental scenes focused on the rife poverty in Bolivia, which ring hollow and clashes with the film’s prevailing message of the falseness of politics.
Words: Eva Short
