From my favorite movies..

A different way of telling a story

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

"Our Brand is Crisis" saw its pre-release hype dissipate by the time it hit theaters for reasons I can't easily pin down with a few minutes of googling. What I can say is that it's a definite shame this film didn't make it into the conversation for Oscar or gross more than $7 million domestically, because it's a richly textured film with a well-paced sense of adventure and exoticism.The film revolves around the rivalry between two ace political strategists (Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton) working different sides of a Bolivian election with the cultural sensitivity of two seasoned board game players competing in a heated contest of Risk. Bob Thornton's character is based on James Carville (between this, Saturday Night Live, and Documentary Now, he seems to be a standard part of any impressionist's repertoire). Bullock channels a slightly darker version of her frazzled but endearing rom-com persona in a part that was originally scripted for a male character and she steals the show. A supporting cast of Scoot McNairy, Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kazan and Ann Dowd adds a cadre of characters with varying degrees of seriousness that makes for some memorable bantered dialogue. It's perhaps in keeping with the film's commentary on geopolitical ethno- centrism that the presidential candidatate (Joaquim de Almeida) is the least interesting character in the entourage. There is, however, a relationship that Sandra Bullock's character develops with a local teenager that comes closest to providing the film's protagonist with a moral awakening. The film successfully threads the needle of thought-provoking without being overly preachy, even if the resolution is slightly less profound than it thinks it is.

Hired to help with a controversial South American leader's reelection campaign, a semi-retired US political consultant gradually embraces the challenge in this comedy-drama blend from David Gordon Green. Sandra Bullock has the lead role and does well within the confines of how her character is written. She has several great speechmaking scenes in which she throws out quotes left, right and centre. The tension between Bullock and rival campaign manager Billy Bob Thornton is also well conveyed and the film becomes especially interesting as it becomes increasingly apparent that Bullock sees the challenge as more about defeating Thornton and less about getting her candidate to win. This solid dramatic core is nevertheless often forced to take a backseat to silly comedic shenanigans. Some of the gags are admittedly amusing, but most of them are childish (Bullock throwing food at Thornton's hotel window; Bullock mooning Thornton from a moving van, etc), while some simply come off in poor taste - regardless of whether or not a llama was actually hurt in the making of the film. Humour of course varies per individual and there are no doubt some who will find the project funny, but even so, the tone of the movie is all over the place with such a pronounced comedic edge. The best political satires tend to be quite dark after all. Never to mind, the movie gives Bullock a chance to show off her acting chops and a strong supporting cast includes Anthony Mackie and Ann Dowd. There is quite a bit to like here even if it does not all add up.

The film was okay, but you have already seen it. This is the same old story where in America, the presidential running candidates do everything they can to win the precious votes, but here it takes place in a different country. Not bad actually, but disappointment is the American influence. Now I tell the truth that it was inspired by the real event. There's already a documentary film made, but now they altered it little and made a political-comedy.The two campaign runners from the United States goes to Bolivia to aide two different candidates and becomes themselves confront once again. To gain the momentum, they have to go any length, so the fun begins when each others pull their legs. But who's going to stand ultimately and with what tactic is to be revealed in the next half of the film.I think, except the American characters dominance, the film was refreshing like the locations, supporting cast wise. But actors like Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton et cetera holds the key. Obviously the star power is one reason and the other is for keeping the real event's touch. The film does not work for everyone, it did do nothing for me. The director of 'Pineapple Express' failed to deliver. But it was a bad screenplay, underdeveloped or maybe lacks some good lines and strong scenes. I totally suggest you to skip it, you would miss nothing.5.5/10

This movie was OK...watchable for the most part due to the usual good performances of Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. An election in Bolivia (partially based on a true story) with behind the scenes goings-on of a professional organization dedicated to a successful campaign by instructing and molding the candidate (portrayed by Joaquim de Almeida).The movie really didn't have much of a "punch". The central subject was actually a very serious one, so the writers had few opportunities to slip in the Sandra Bullock type of humor. Possibly the problem is that so many have come to expect that elections are largely about manipulation so it's no surprise. Or maybe it's that this is the behavior we expect from so many politicians that we've come to accept and it's "no big deal".