Our Brand Is Crisis

Apart from weapons shipped to other nations, perhaps the worst U.S. export nowadays is political consultants, who having debased American elections with unsavory methods, are now busily engaged doing the same in foreign climes. Their baleful influence is the subject of David Gordon Green's well-meaning but uneven dramedy, which doesn't quite do justice to its promising premise as either comedy or drama. Our Brand Is Crisis is a fictionalized take on the 2002 presidential election in Bolivia, during which James Carville helped elect a disgraced ex-president over populist Evo Morales. Here, the Carville character is “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock), a burned-out recluse coming out of retirement to advise a senator running well behind other candidates, including an entertainer-turned-politician who has a U.S. consultant too—Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), a man who has always been her nemesis. By refashioning the dour senator as a fighter in a time of crisis, Bodine turns him into a serious contender, while she and Candy trade dirty tricks on the way to Election Day. Although obviously intended to be sharp satire, for the most part this is an oddly muted film that occasionally switches to rambunctious slapstick and often veers into soapy drama. Still, the star power makes this a strong optional purchase. [Note: Blu-ray extras include a “Sandra Bullock: A Role Like No Other” cast segment (11 min.), trailers, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (F. Swietek)