Our Brand Is Crisis Review

It’s rare enough that a political documentary (Rachel Boynton’s 2005 film of the same name) inspires a biting fictional satire, but it’s more remarkable that it should become a vehicle for an A-list star whose usual taste in comedy is more broad. The setting is Bolivia 2002, where a right-wing politician has hired legendary US spin doctor ‘Calamity’ Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) to come out of retirement and mastermind his election campaign. Her nemesis is the equally formidable Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), reigniting an old feud that puts score-settling before politics. Sparks fly, but the grim cynicism of modern politics adds subversive weight to the film’s screwball comedy stylings and has a lot to say about modern politics, in the US as well as abroad.