our brand is crisis ending explained

More fliers are discovered that claim (with pictures) Castillo is a member of a crazy white-robe wearing cult. But Boynton has done her own framing: This campaign is a precursor to tragedy. Her words are intercut with footage of newspaper headlines and, oddly, shots of Bullocks hands molding clay at a pottery wheel. You never find out. The 2005 Our Brand Is Crisis was the second documentary about Carvilles political work, following 1993s The War Room, in addition to Carvilles dramatic acting rsumand cable news career. A lethally effective charm delivery system, Sandra Bullock doesn't need to do much to win you over. What part should morality play in politics? Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. At an evening event, Castillo is shaking hands with people behind a barrier. Jane next starts a rumor that Rivera is a Nazi, based on no real facts, but a fuzzy picture showing him with Nazi propaganda. 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. 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. Candys played by Billy Bob Thornton, and his serpentine southern charm and minimalist tonsorial stylings suggest real-life political maven James Carville (and it is perhaps no accident that Thornton played a deep-fried political strategist in Primary Colors, too) who was in the aforementioned documentary. When it does, Jane moons the Rivera bus. Their main tactic is to emphasize the many problems of the economy and present Castillo as the solution. Ben (Anthony Mackie) and Nell (Ann Down) are driving in the snowy mountains (between the mountains, as Jane later corrects them) discussing their plan to sway Jane to work for the campaign of Pedro Castillo, a Senator in Bolivia who is running for President. The front-runner, Victor Rivera, is a populist who is appealing to the basest emotions of that poor electorate. But at the end, their methods are exposed to the viewers as evil. The way Jane and her team approaches politics makes them good at their job, but it also makes them cynical people, and the movie rarely questions their behavior until the very end when it does so in the most heavy-handed manner possible. In the city, Eddie is hanging Castillo posters. Before a campaign stop, Jane tells Eddie to help Castillo roll up his sleeves. Though not without its entertaining momentsthe cast, led by Sandra Bullock, is energetic, sharp and gets a fair number of juicy bits to rock out with. They then shoot the head of the Rivera doll Candy had left, and it breaks his window. [5] On September 11, Scoot McNairy was added to the cast. Boynton traveled to Bolivia to cover the activity of a high-priced U.S. consulting firm, Greenberg Carville, and Shrum, in the 2002 presidential race, and she had amazingfrankly, flabbergastingaccess. [20], In July 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled the film for an October 30, 2015 release, during the awards season. Meanwhile, the senior advisors (Ben, Nell and others) talk about Jane and Candy, how they had sex previously, and how she spread a rumor during a campaign that Candys candidates daughter was on drugs. Read full review SEE ALL 35 REVIEWS User Score Write a Review 6.4 Positive: 23 This Friday, Sandra Bullock assumes the role in Our Brand Is Crisis, a mostly satirical take on a 2005 documentary of the same name about American political consultants conquest of a Bolivian election. ***SPOILER*** Castillo wins the election, and immediately breaks all his promises and turns out to be a tyrant. Its pretty powerful, actually. However, when two strategists for a struggling Bolivian presidential campaign pique her interest, she goes down to the South American country to see if she should get back in the fight. Either the character repents, and you have a cornball ending, or the character doesnt, and you have a soapy endorsement of sociopathy. The film gives a fictionalized account of the involvement of American political campaign strategists Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. Theres no redemption to be found with the people who are ruining liveswho have no belief in politicians or voters; people who have basically given up on humanity and play with public policy like a kid with a loaded gun. Our Brand is Crisis was one of these pleasant surprises. Terms of Service apply. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. He overhears him making plans to visit the IMF in New York, and is crestfallen. It's a game that has a real impact on people's lives, but a game nonetheless. [24], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. 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. [17][18] Filming also took place in the Bonnet Carr Spillway in Norco in St. Charles Parish. 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. [16], On August 21, 2014, Bullock's casting was confirmed, playing a retired political consultant called 'Calamity' Jane Bodine, and David Gordon Green was set to direct the film. (The daughter killed herself as a result.). GCS brings in Jane Bodine to manage the campaign in Bolivia--battling her arch-nemesis, the opposition's political consultant Pat Candy. In her eyes, her job is done. The 2005 Our Brand Is Crisis was the second documentary about Carville's political work, following 1993's The War Room, in addition to Carville's dramatic acting rsum and cable news career.. And sometimesin fact, I daresay oftenyou know about a half hour into a film that youre going to have to censure it. Our Brand Is Crisis also has deeper themes that punctuate the human cost of winning and what it takes to do just that. [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. There's only one wrong in this, only one, and that is losing!". As one of his first actions, he invites the IMF into Bolivia, thereby breaking his promise. During the debate, Nell observes how charming Rivera is, while the team watches stage left. Candy calls Jane and invites her to go out again. It already has. When Bodine realizes that she brought a liar into office, she has the car stopped and leaves to join Eduardo. When Jane realizes how much she hurt the country, shes so upset that she actually quits her business and joins the protesters. 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. She cares about winning, and the movie reinforces the narrative that politics is just a game. The pacing is. Thats why in a time of ever-greater political chaos, the character rings so false. Now, the film is so heavily fictionalized that it's much more an emotive or thematic . 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. There are too many balls in the air, too many uncontrollable outside factors, for any singular figure to get all of this under control, be 10 steps ahead of the curve, and successfully and confidently blaze a trail from pre-candidacy to election to dignified leadership. Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton go head to head as strategists in a patchy satire about the 2002 Bolivian elections. The deception disgusts her. Principal photography began on September 29, 2014, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The reality of U.S. politics is dominated not so much by incompetent leaders as mortals who lack the requisite superpowers needed to steer the ship of state. 107 minutes Cast Sandra Bullock as 'Calamity' Jane Bodine Anthony Mackie as Ben Billy Bob Thornton as Pat Candy Zoe Kazan as LeBlanc Scoot McNairy as Buckley Ann Dowd as Nell Director David Gordon Green Screenplay Peter Straughan Writer (original documentary) Right before the debate with the 3 leading candidates, Jane is sitting alone in the lecture hall, reading Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, and is soon joined by Candy. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd and Joaquim de Almeida. Politics takes to cynicism like shit to a cesspool. In its best moments, Our Brand Is Crisis is reminiscent of Wag the Dog; it knows how fucked politics is and acts accordingly. 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. Greens last three picturesPrince Avalanche, Joe, and Manglehornfelt like personal indie films, and Our Brand Is Crisis seems like an attempt to reach back into the mainstream with a mix of comedy and pathos, and yet it also comes off like a journeyman feature. Ben says, ok. When the gunfire stops, the camera moves in on a boy sitting on the steps of a building, his head partly covered by his coat as if hes grabbing a nap. On a table she finds a Rivera doll. Mick LaSalle is the film critic for the San . Maybe Carville and the Clintonocracy were empowering democracy after all, even if it wasnt quite the variety they intended. They make big promises that mean jack shit. Getting hurt is unavoidable, she tells him. [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. Calamity Jane Bodine (Bullock) was a vaunted political strategist, but the emotional toll of the campaigns coupled with substance abuse problems forced her into early retirement where she may not be happy, but shes grateful that shes calm. His loyalty comes mostly from the fact that Castillo, who was president at the time, took a young Eduardo on his arm during a rally in his town. As one of his first moves as president, Morales unilaterally reversed the terms of Bolivias natural gas contracts with foreign corporations: Instead of the investors getting 82 percent of the profits and the Bolivian state getting 18 percent, it was suddenly the other way around. Some of her pranks, specifically one ploy to feed her candidates unsuspecting competitor a Nazi quotation during the campaigns final debate, are good for a laugh. The campaign believes Castillo should apologize as soon as possible but Jane disagrees. There is only one wrong thing to do, she says: Losing. Have they learned nothing? The police arrive and the demonstration quickly turns into a riot. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Its only when the camera is on top of him that we see the pool of blood. The message I got from this movie was very positive. While Rivera is still speaking aboard a train, Jane poses as a worker for the Rivera campaign and tells the conductor the speech is over. Loosely based on the 2005 documentary of the same name, Our Brand is Crisis offers a fictionalized take on the 2002 Bolivian Presidential election with a cast that includes Academy Award. At the start, Jane has been out of the consulting game for several years, following a traumatic mayoral race. , No amount of political manoeuvring can fix this film [1/4], An uneven mix of cynical satire and breezy comedy. Goni fled the country five days later, and now lives in exile in the U.S., which has refused to extradite him to Bolivia to face trial for extrajudicial killings and other crimes against humanity. Comedy-Drama. Starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. Since Im reviewing this film for its DVD release, Ive already taken into consideration the opinions of other reviewers. They approach each other and she just smiles. She explains its not relevant whether its true. In addition, there are 20+ f-words, s-words (19), and one each of a**, SOB, p*ssed, p*ssy, b*stard, b***h, tw*t, cr*p, and t*rd. ", "Toronto Review: Sandra Bullock Carries Our Brand Is Crisis", "Sandra Bullock Adds Gravity to Bolivian Political Satire", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Our_Brand_Is_Crisis_(2015_film)&oldid=1134072378, Tilda Del Toro as Pedro Castillo's secretary, This page was last edited on 16 January 2023, at 22:01. She realizes that she was deceived by Castillo, just like she was attempting to deceive the people of Bolivia. 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. & # x27 ; s only one wrong in this, only one wrong in this, that. Main tactic is to emphasize the many problems of the Rivera doll Candy had left and! As one of his first actions, he invites the IMF into Bolivia, thereby breaking his.. 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