Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Our Brand is Crisis (2015)

This is topic Our Brand is Crisis (2015) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Matt Russell (Member # 8989) on 10-30-2015, 11:48 PM:

A rather disappointing political dramedy from David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Joe). Sandra Bullock does alright as Jane Bodine, a consultant who's sent to Bolivia to help with manage the 2002 Bolivian election. Billy Bob Thornton comes into the party as Pat Candy, the consultant on the side against Bodine. Wackiness ensures (sorry, Sam) and the two "fight" to win the election. Thornton and Bullock have alright chemistry, but a lot of jokes fall flat. The supporting cast is also disappoints, but Anthony Mackie tried his best and Ann Dowd got some laughs here and there. One of the biggest problems with the film is that it can't decide what genre it wants to be: comedy or drama. Some parts are very slapstick and other parts are very serious. There's no problem with that in most cases, but with Crisis, it feels like the writer couldn't decide on which one and so some parts just felt a little out of place. The other problem with it is the story feels off, is this supposed to be a character-piece on Bullock's Jane Bodine character or a documentary on Bolivia? Overall, Our Brand is Crisis is not terrible, but it's got flaws and most stand out. I can't see this getting any support from the academies.
Film: 1 and a half out of 5 stars
Presentation: 4 out of 4 stars (no complaints, but the flat format is a disappointment and the turnout was quite low, so I don't see this having much of a holding going forward)

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 11-01-2015, 07:24 PM:

the trailer alone was one major turn off - guess other's weren't as impressed either - as it's another bomb from Warner's