Director: David Gordon Green
By Alex Watson
On paper Our Brand Is Crisis should have been a winning political comedy, but despite a fine cast the story just doesn't ignite and the needed tension is sorely lacking. Needed an added bite, the script by Peter Straughan fails to make full use of the interesting satire it has at its disposal. Director of stoner comedy The Pineapple Express and the innuendo filled Your Highness, David Gordon Green was a surprising choice to helm this. Although he shows that his work can go surprisingly deep, Green sadly misses the target.
Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) is a political strategist who has gone into seclusion after some widely covered personal errors which gained her the nickname 'Calamity Jane'. An olive branch is extended to her when she recruited by Ben (Anthony Mackie) and Nell (Ann Dowd) to help out with a political campaign in Bolivia. The candidate Pedro Castillo (Joaquim De Almeida) is out of touch with his public and behind in the polls. The real tempting reason is the chance to get one over on her former rival Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) who is heading the campaign for the opposition.
In some places David Gordon Green does succeed in making Our Brand Is Crisis shine, one sequence where Jane gets drunk with some locals raises the most laughs. The faults of this picture are not obvious but the story is the biggest fault with the story. Jane's past is not nearly touched upon as much as required and we never get a full sense of her inner conflict. Likewise with her relationship with Pat Candy, referred as a "Sicilian Blood Feud" by Rich (Scoot McNairy). This love/hate relationship is not explored and there is a lack of brooding hate which makes their encounters undercooked.
Politically the story could have been an interesting one as Castillo has already been President of Bolivia before and when he did his privatizing of industries didn't go down well! Electing him to office again is a seemingly impossible task. Being produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, you would expect so political depth and perhaps so good commentary on the Bolivian economy. Green sadly only brushes over this area and despite rumours of the country having a possible IMF bail out which could cripple the poorer regions, we are left to wonder exactly what the game plan is? Resurrecting Castillo's campaign does offer some rib tickling injections of humour- Llama gets run over while making commercial, leading Jane to muse "It's like he killed himself rather than appear in our commercial!" Other than these brief glimpses of hope there is a stale after-taste.
Morally there is a problematic centre about its chief characters as Jane is continually self loathing over the people she chooses to serve. At the beginning we get a sliver of her convoluted persona as she tell us how she believes in getting the vote and not wondering about the politician himself. Jane like others in her field is a gun for hire who after fighting the good war shall just locate the next battlefield. Earning the nickname 'Calamity Jane' has hurt her deeply and she is now far from home attempt to resurrect herself for a cause she maybe doesn't full believe in. There is a big sense of hurt and betrayal on both personal and business levels during the climax. Although the sentiment rings hollow and it feels ever pushed upon us, it does leave our brain cells ticking.
The principle strength of this picture comes from the strong central turn from Sandra Bullock. Breezing through the movies problems like they are nothing at all Bullock makes great use of her comic timing. Despite having little to work with she easily dominates each scene she appears and becomes this movies main selling point. A woman forever since her 2009 Oscar win, Sandra Bullock is now in definitely contention for another nod.
Our Brand Is Crisis really should have been a far stronger and more satirical effort from David Gordon Green but his want to make this centuries Wag The Dog hasn't come to fruition. Lord know what would have happened if he cast James Franco and Danny McBride?
