‘Our Brand is Crisis’ is a calamity

No one would vote for this film.

“Our Brand is Crisis,” directed by David Gordon Green and starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton, is another self-important and arrogant Bullock movie. 

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Bullock is a hard actress to pinpoint. While she has terrific performances in “Gravity” and “Infamous,” she also has lot bad or overrated films in her filmography, like “All About Steve” and  “The Blind Side.”

“Our Brand is Crisis” definitely falls into the bad category.

The movie is beyond pompous and smug.

It is the type of movie that thinks it is smart because it can quote people like Friedrich Nietzsche. Famous quotes can help any piece of fiction by enhancing its theme or ideals, but this movie overuses it. Eventually it comes off as the film not having anything original to say.

The entire film lacks any innovation or depth.  

“Our Brand is Crisis” plays itself off as a witty satire, or at times a dark, but comedic look at politics. It ends up being a watered down version of better films like “In the Loop.”

This movie lacks any bite; it has no darkness to it.  If the film wanted to talk about real world politics, it shouldn’t have tried for an upbeat, happy ending. 

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The acting is one of the few places the film does not fail.

Thornton seemingly can do no wrong. He is an actor who can be thrown in trash like “The Judge,” and help elevate to a watchable level.

His character of Pat Candy is one of the few individuals in this movie who truly feels multi-dimensional. The filmmakers try and make different characters well-developed, but only Candy ends up working. A lot of this comes from Thornton’s mannerisms and line delivery.

This is just one of the aspects trying to save the already sunken ship that is this film.

Stars: 2 out of 5. 

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE. 

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