Movie: Our Brand is Crisis
Direction: David Gordon Green
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Anthony Mackie, Billy Bob Thornton, Joaquim de Almeida, Scoot McNairy, Ann Dowd, Zoe Kazan
Music: David Wingo
Cinematographer: Tim Orr
Editor: Colin Patton
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: ∗∗½
What is it about: It’s a Political-comedy-drama which involves Pedro Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) a Bolivian presidential candidate who hires Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) a retired political consultant to help him win the elections, this pretty much forms the crux of the story directed by David Gordon Green.
Why it’s disappointing: Despite of being a political drama laced with humour, this flick fails to hold his motive. It sets a good premise but loses its direction as it travels. The film had a great cast which went in vain, due to lazy execution. David collaborates characters from different genres and puts them in a room for an intellectual debate. The debate loses its credibility due to mismatch of characters.
Anthony Mackie, a very potential one gets quite worn down by an underplayed character. Then comes Billy Bob Thronton as Pat Candy, who conveniently defers at any point in the movie. These factors forces you to dislike the premise set by the film initially and makes you lose interest.
What to watch out for: The only saving grace of this film is Sandra Bullock who pulls it along with great endurance. She gave an exceptional performance unaware of the errors in the film, her comic timing were underplayed but she still holds it together. Even though the character sketched for her was not quirky enough, she plays it with élan making it a quirkiest and best of all was the forced sentimental climax which only she could make it convincing.
The cinematography and the editing was at a great pace and presented the film at Godspeed. There are few instances in the movie which are applause worthy mainly due to Sandra Bullock.
Verdict: David Gordon Green couldn’t sell his brand good enough to convince the audience. Which puts the film in crisis.
