If international politics piques your interest or you just love seeing Sandra Bullock play women in positions of power, then I highly recommend going to see “Our Brand is Crisis.”
Opening Oct. 30, this movie is a dramatization of a 2005 documentary of the same name that covers the 2002 campaign of Bolivian presidential candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and his hiring of Greenberg Carville Shrum, an American political consulting firm, in order to help him improve his chances of winning the election for a second time — he was president from 1993 to 1997 prior to this election.
Bullock plays Jane Bodine, a former political consultant hired by Pedro Castillo, played by Joaquim de Almeida, an unpopular candidate in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, in order to help him defeat his rival Victor Rivera, played by Louis Arcella. Joining Bullock on the team are Anthony Mackie as Ben, Scoot McNairy as Rich, Ann Dowd as Nell, and Zoe Kazan as researcher LeBlanc.
The team must work to outwit her arch rival Pat Candy, portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton.
The film does an excellent job of reminding us that political corruption is an issue, not only here in the United States, but all over the world. Bolivia is facing corruption of its own with massive income inequality due to the privatization of various industries.
That gives Bullock’s character the idea to have Castillo’s campaign be focused on discussing what is wrong with the country rather than simply focusing on the things that would qualify.
It also gives an interesting look into the toll campaigning can take on a person psychologically when Bodine admits she was dealing with depression.
I wanted Bodine’s candidate to win initially and kept cheering Castillo on during the movie. However, that quickly changed when he refused to listen to people asking for adequate representation in government.
“Our Brand is Crisis” provides fantastic character development for Bodine, who throughout the film debates whether or not getting back into the ring was a good idea after all.
In a time where people are tired of corruption being the order of the day in political circles, it is refreshing to see someone realize the errors of her actions and that she can’t make any real change by being part of a system that furthers the problem.
