Sandra Bullock spearheads a diverting political campaign through Bolivia.
Based on the 2005 documentary of the same name, the political dramedy Our Brand is Crisis is a fictional account about a retired American campaign strategist, “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock), who is hired by an unpopular Bolivian presidential candidate, Pedro Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida), to reinvigorate his campaign and help him win the fast-approaching election.
When the film opens, Jane is in full-on hermit mode. Following a crushing defeat several years earlier, she decided to go clean and sober, move out to the mountains and throw pottery. When she’s first approached about a new campaign, Jane initially declines. It’s only after she hears her old rival Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) is grooming the opposing candidate that Jane agrees to help rebrand the surly and unlikable Gallo.
When it comes to political satire like this, timing is everything, and the truth is, Our Brand is Crisis couldn’t have come at a better time. While the film is set almost entirely in Bolivia, one can’t help but think of America’s own current presidential election and the countless orchestrated tactics the candidates use to shake up the polls — especially now that the debates are in full force.
Ultimately, though, Our Brand is Crisis is about what goes on behind the curtain, specifically as it pertains to fabricating the public perceptions of candidates. As Jane, Bullock is a powerhouse, tapping into her full range as an actor. One moment she’s inspiring a roomful of staffers with a great new idea, the next she’s stumbling over herself in a Miss Congeniality-style pratfall. It’s the kind of role only Bullock can pull off, and I shutter to think what any other actor would do with such an erratic character.
We want to hear it.
The rest of the cast is also solid, particularly Thornton as Jane’s toxic rival, and Mackie lending his charm to Gallo’s camp. That said, the likes of Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy and Zoe Kazan, who make up the rest of Jane’s team, are occasionally funny, but their one-trick-pony characters quickly become tiresome and feel unneeded towards the end. Meanwhile, De Almeida does a good job as Jane’s stoic but malleable candidate, while the wide-eyed Eddie (Reynaldo Pacheco) grounds some of the politics as a local staffer.
As for the story, well, a lot of it gets bogged down by a middling tone, which dabbles in both comedy and drama but never fully commits to either. While Bullock is up to the challenge, director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, George Washington) strangely isn’t. Perhaps if the film had angled for more drama or, conversely, dived headlong into satire, it would have been great. As is, Our Brand is Crisis never really makes an impact.
Granted, there are some fun set-pieces here — a juvenile bus race on the campaign trail is one of the highlights — but the political nature of it is too vague and peripheral to really get a good sense of the changing poll numbers throughout the movie. In the end, what we have here is a mildly enjoyable run-for-office movie with some interesting but fleeting ideas and a great lead in Bullock.
Our Brand is Crisis may be director David Gordon Green’s most sterile picture yet, but it’s redeemed somewhat by Sandra Bullock’s lead performance, as well as a talented ensemble cast. The Bolivian setting makes for a unique locale in a campaign run chiefly by Americans, but the end result doesn’t have quite the oomph, comedically or dramatically, to fully deliver the goods.
