Review of Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) by Thisistheslam — 31 Jan 2019

A nearly-impactful political comedy/drama that centers around a nation that most of the movie's audience will be totally unfamiliar with. Our Brand Is Crisis constantly plays footsie with greatness but doesn't quite deliver the goods.

There's witty, fun writing and quality moments throughout and Sandra Bullock does a fine job as the dark former veteran campaign manager coming in to rebuild a sinking ship that is a former Bolivian president.

But what Our Brand Is Crisis never achieves is a totally laugh-out-loud script or the intense and evocative call-to-action resurgence film that it attempts to be. Serving two masters isn't impossible in Hollywood but you have to sell out to both and balance the scales well - not to mention have excellent writing.

Our Brand Is Crisis will not waste your time but you won't feel like it was all that memorable either. It's certainly worth a watch if you're intrigued by the setting and the cast but few will come away with the feeling that this movie truly set itself apart in both quality and message - the message (in the end) being that politicians can be hard to support because campaigns are built on promises and presidencies are spent ignoring those promises for most of the people on this planet.

It's an incredibly relevant message that starts to find its voice way too late in the game but at least the film goes out with a little flair and excitement. I liked it but not enough to wholesale recommend it to my friends and family.