Our Brand is Crisis
by: Maazid Ahmed
edited by: Anthony Zangrillo
Our Brand is Crisis is a remake of a 2005 documentary of the same name. The film depicts the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. However, rather than focusing on the candidates, the film follows the people running the campaigns and their questionable electoral tactics. Even though this is a remake, all the characters are fictional. ‘Calamity’ Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) and Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) are archrivals that lead the campaigns of Bolivian politicians Pedro Gallo (a fictionalized version of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada) and Victor Rivera (a fictionalized version of socialist candidate Evo Morales), respectively.
The remake attempts to be a dark comedy, but it struggles in maintaining this light, but serious tone. Some moments are very funny and perfectly fit within the film, yet other scenes feel a little too forced. Unfortunately, it is borderline disrespectful of the original. Yet the film gives a very small glimpse into the gritty world of politics. If you are hoping for a critique of the seedy underbelly of global politics, there are many other things out there for you to watch.
One of the saving graces of the movie involves Sandra Bullock’s genuine performance. In fact, this is ironic, because in the movie, Bullock’s character is hired to improve the dismal poll numbers of Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida). Unfortunately, some of the actors in this movie, specifically Billy Bob Thornton and Anthony Mackie were not fully utilized.
However, I remained appreciative of the plot’s smart character decision for LeClerk (Zoe Kazan). LeClerk is a researcher, who specializes in finding out secrets that nobody wants found. She is also the translator for Bodine and her team. I would have loved to have seen more of her quirky one-liners throughout the film. Yet the character seems to only work in small doses. She simply comes in whenever there isn’t any time to show us how some particular information was found. It seemed like a lazy addition, but in reality it saves a lot of time for the plot to explore other areas.
Unfortunately, the most exciting scene of the movie is a comical bus chase. Keanu Reeves will certainly be a little nostalgic looking back at his team up with Sandra Bullock in the 1994 movie “Speed,” and might even be a little sad, because in this particular bus chase, Bullock ends up flashing her butt out the window of the bus. One would think that she would use a butt double for said scene but that is not the case. The butt you see on-screen does indeed belong to the 51 year old Sandra Bullock.
Even though it has some enjoyable moments, it is not a movie that many people will enjoy. Overall, if you are the type of person, who likes to reflect on films and search for a hidden message beyond what was shown, you might like it. The few who might enjoy the certain parts that I am thinking of will still probably think that their time and money would have been better spent on something else.
Score: 5.5
