Our Brand Is Crisis (2015 film)
Our Brand Is Crisis | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Gordon Green |
Screenplay by | Peter Straughan |
Based on | Our Brand Is Crisis by Rachel Boynton |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Tim Orr |
Edited by | Colin Patton |
Music by | David Wingo |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million[2] |
Box office | $8.6 million[3] |
Our Brand Is Crisis is a 2015 American
Plot
In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Castillo hires an American political consulting firm (based on
The American consultants, not knowing the language or the culture of Bolivia, are persuaded by Bodine, a burned out veteran of American politics, to follow a strategy of smear campaigning to make up for their candidate's shortcomings. However, Castillo refuses to give permission for the team to do so. It is only after Bodine arranges for the distribution of a flyer accusing Castillo of a long-ago affair (and blaming it on the opposition) does she finally get him to agree to smear his opponents.
In the following months, the team exercises a strategy of "declaring a crisis". They plan to frighten the people, with the aim of persuading them to vote for the unsympathetic but known Castillo rather than the younger opposition candidates. They even resort to publishing photos of their enemy with
During the final debate, Bodine cites a quote in a conversation with Candy (knowing that he'll give it to rival candidate Rivera for his speech) saying that "a great man" said it. Unfortunately, the quote is actually from Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Castillo wins the vote by a small margin. As one of his first actions, he invites the IMF into Bolivia, thereby breaking his promise. The deeply disappointed Eduardo visits Bodine in her hotel; Bodine replies that she is not responsible for Castillo's actions. In her eyes, her job is done.
The disillusioned Eduardo joins his brothers at a demonstration of people demanding change. The police arrive and the demonstration quickly turns into a riot. Bodine and her crew join Candy on the way to the airport. All of them, except Bodine, have already taken jobs as political consultants in other countries. When Bodine realizes that she brought a liar into office, she has the car stopped and leaves to join Eduardo.
Cast
- Sandra Bullock as 'Calamity' Jane Bodine,[5] a retired political consultant hired by an unpopular Bolivian politician to help him win the presidential election.
- Scoot McNairy[6] as Richard Buckley
- Billy Bob Thornton as Pat Candy,[7] Jane's nemesis, who leads the opposition's campaign.
- Anthony Mackie[8] as Ben
- Ann Dowd[9] as Nell
- Joaquim de Almeida as Pedro Castillo,[10] the Bolivian Presidential candidate who hires Jane.
- Zoe Kazan[10] as LeBlanc, a researcher who specializes in digging up dirt on candidates.
- Reynaldo Pacheco[11] as Eduardo, a young volunteer who befriends Jane.
- Dominic Flores[11] as Hugo
- Louis Arcella[11] as Rivera
- Octavio Gómez Berríos[11] as Pepe
- Luis Chavez[12] as Abraham
- Tilda Del Toro as Pedro Castillo's secretary
- Carmela Zumbado as a reporter (cameo)
- Ricardo Vargas as Campaign Worker
Production
On April 22, 2007, it was announced that
On August 21, 2014, Bullock's casting was confirmed, playing a retired political consultant called 'Calamity' Jane Bodine, and
Principal photography on the film began on September 29, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana, using 35mm film.[17][18] Filming also took place in the Bonnet Carré Spillway in Norco in St. Charles Parish.[19] Additional filming occurred in Puerto Rico and Bolivia.[20]
Release
In July 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled the film for an October 30, 2015 release, during the awards season.[21] It had a wide release in 2,202 theaters for 21 days.[22]
Reception
Box office
Our Brand Is Crisis grossed $7 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $8.6 million, against a budget of $28 million.[3]
The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. In its opening weekend, it was projected to make $5–7 million from 2,202 theaters,[23] however only ended up grossing $3.2 million, finishing eighth at the box office. This was the lowest wide release opening of Bullock's career, beating 1996's Two If by Sea ($4.7 million).[24] In it second weekend the film made $1.4 million, finishing 11th.[25]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Our Brand Is Crisis offers sporadic amusement and benefits from a talented cast, but ultimately lacks enough of a bite to add much of interest to the political satire genre."[26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[23]
Eric Kohn from
References
- ^ "Our Brand Is Crisis (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 28, 2015). "Box-Office Preview: Halloween Forecast Bleak for 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved October 28, 2015.
- ^ a b "Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
- ^ "Sandra Bullock's 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Robert Redford's 'Truth' to Premiere at Toronto". Variety. August 18, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Kroll, Justin (August 21, 2014). "Sandra Bullock and David Gordon Green Team on 'Our Brand is Crisis'". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Kroll, Justin (September 11, 2014). "Scoot McNairy Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis'". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (September 15, 2014). "Billy Bob Thornton in Talks to Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". TheWrap. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ a b Ford, Rebecca; Kit, Borys (September 18, 2014). "Anthony Mackie Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Kroll, Justin (September 24, 2014). "'Leftovers' Actress Ann Dowd Joins Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand is Crisis'". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
- ^ a b c Sneider, Jeff (October 10, 2014). "Joaquim de Almeida, Zoe Kazan Join Sandra Bullock in 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". TheWrap. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Yamato, Jen (October 13, 2014). "Participant Boards David Gordon Green's 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ a b Debruge, Peter (September 12, 2015). "Toronto Film Review: 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". Variety. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^ a b McClintock, Pamela; Dawtrey, Adam (April 22, 2007). "Clooney, WB get in 'Crisis' mode". Variety. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (October 28, 2015). "The real story of "Our Brand Is Crisis" is how we screwed up Bolivia: Behind the bland Sandra Bullock movie lies another strange-but-true tale of botched American meddling". Salon.com. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ "About the Founders". Democracy Corps. July 24, 2012. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (December 11, 2013). "Sandra Bullock in Talks to Star in George Clooney-Produced 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". TheWrap. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ Scott, Mike (September 8, 2014). "George Clooney's 'Our Brand Is Crisis' sets Metairie casting call". nola.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- ^ B. Gill, Stanley (September 23, 2014). "Louisiana Film TV Production Jobs Hotline – September 23, 2014". thehollywoodsouthblog.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Menard, Jonathan (November 14, 2014). "Political drama starring A-listers films in Norco". heraldguide.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
- ^ Rico, Jack (October 30, 2015). "Reynaldo Pacheco Is The Beating Heart In 'Our Brand Is Crisis'". NBC News. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ McNary, Dave (July 24, 2015). "Sandra Bullock's 'Crisis' Gets Awards Season Release Date". variety.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ^ "Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ a b "Bradley Cooper, 'The Martian' To Scare Away Sandra Bullock & 'Scouts' At Halloween B.O. – Preview". Deadline Hollywood. October 27, 2015.
- ^ "Star-Driven Casualties 'Our Brand Is Crisis' & 'Burnt' At The B.O.: What The Hell Happened?". Deadline Hollywood. October 31, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 9, 2015). "'Spectre' $70.4M Opening: Still 2nd Highest 007 Debut Behind 'Skyfall', But Not That Far From 'Quantum Of Solace' – Monday AM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ "Our Brand is Crisis (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ "Our Brand Is Crisis". Metacritic. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
- ^ Kohn, Eric (September 12, 2015). "Toronto Review: Sandra Bullock Carries Our Brand Is Crisis". IndieWire. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^ Lee, Benjamin (September 12, 2015). "Sandra Bullock Adds Gravity to Bolivian Political Satire". The Guardian. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
External links
- Our Brand Is Crisis at IMDb
- Our Brand Is Crisis at Box Office Mojo
- Our Brand Is Crisis at Rotten Tomatoes
- Our Brand Is Crisis at Metacritic
- Ourbrandiscrisis.org Parody website of film illustrating deadly consequences of election of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada