Our Brand Is Crisis ***
The title says it all about political campaigning: It’s all about who markets the brand best – whether we need/want the product. Based on Rachel Boynton’s 2005 documentary of the same name, Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green’s new film readdresses the absurdity of this marketing in the political rat race to election glory. It’s all about how good your marketing team is and what lengths it’ll go to get the product on top.
Our Brand Is Crisis boasts two highly entertaining screen cynics at loggerheads in Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. It’s also set in Central America, rather than the usual Washington D.C. stomping ground, chillingly demonstrating how effect/destructive brand capitalism with zero scruples can be running riot.
Battle-hardened political strategist Jane Bodine (Bullock) agrees to come out of self-imposed retirement to help re-elect controversial ex-president Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) in Bolivia, after finding out that her arch nemesis in the game, Pat Candy (Thornton), is heading up the rival’s campaign. Best marketing campaign wins – or so it might seem.
Our Brand Is Crisis sounds like another well-trodden political satire on offer. It’s only the promise of Bullock verses Thornton on the film’s ‘campaign’ poster that it arouses initial interest – that, and it’s produced by George Clooney. For fans of all three, the film delivers an entertaining, though frankly, very odd ride.
Our Brand Is Crisis does have some strange, jarring tonal aspects to it; marketed as a ‘comedy’ it’s far from it. Apart from some bottom gags, the humour arises from the ridiculous bordering on shameful scenarios that leave a bittersweet taste immediately afterwards. It’s first and foremost a drama with an ending that tries to realign the moral compass, albeit briefly and in an idealistic world. In this sense, it’s both an ugly and lighthearted experience, perhaps targeting those who would not normally watch a purely political film.
The real emphasis that the film and its makers try to drum home is not necessarily the bizarre nature of politics, but the seedier side that really affects lives, especially in poorer economies. Here, any laughs we might have at what appears to be the team’s ‘downtime’ away from the ‘real’ election trails back home (in the US), are suppressed by the cold light of day of backing the ‘wrong’ horse to victory. Ironically, ‘crisis’ becomes the campaigner’s best buddy here, which is a sobering thought – and you still don’t like the candidate, though you can empathise with his own lack of control as he foots the bill.
In fact, Bullock’s Bodine poses a curious character in itself, selling her soul like some gambling addict with unscrupulous amounts of money at her hands. After all, it’s win-win for her; if she loses, she gets to retreat back to sanity and making spiritual pots. If she wins, it’s her first victory over Candy, as well as beefing up her CV and bank balance.
Thornton’s Candy is an equally curious mix of half demon, half angel that makes Bodine re-evaluate herself. Though the story is not so much about them, more screen-time about their poisoned ‘relationship’ would have been sweeter, especially as Bullock’s part was allegedly first written for a male lead so it could have been greater explored. Thornton is suitably devilish, egging Bodine on in their game of chess, and always a pleasure to watch in such a role.
There are some great supporting performances too from Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd, Zoe Kazan and Scoot McNairy as Team Castillo, with McNairy playing the illiterate fool creating the cheesiest campaign videos. De Almeida pulls his usual ‘South American villain’ out of the bag, as much a crook as the other criminal roles he easily embraces, so no surprises there.
Still, for Bullock fans, it’s always great to see their idol peddling out her usual ‘wreck to riches’, Gracie Hart-type character, but a more serious, grown-up version. Perhaps, this is where the ‘comedy’ misconception kicks in, especially when Bolivia’s elite first glimpses Bodine.
Our Brand Is Crisis is a bizarre political affair with a nasty after-sting. However, can Bullock battle it out with the other big political contender at this week’s box office, The Big Short, offering some homegrown (US) corruption drama? She’s certainly picked her fight.
3/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
