Plot: What’s it about?
Despite the presence of Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton, Our Brand Is Crisis failed to find an audience during its brief theatrical run. It also didn’t seem to connect with critics either. While Bullock has had her share of hits, the misses always make me wonder what exactly went wrong. I read a few theories with this film, but ultimately, it’s just a lousy film that, despite a few moments that show potential, never really takes off. The small highlights are the scenes with Thornton and Bullock, but they wear thin after a while. David Gordon Green is the director here, but he never builds any momentum with the film. Instead, it just sits still as we wait impatiently for the closing credits to begin.
Bullock stars as Jane, she works in politics and is hired to help elect politician Pedro Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida). Her long rival, Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton sporting a shaved head) is leading the campaign for Castillo’s opponent. This leads to more than a few scenes of Jane and Pat sharing back and forth banter. Jane and her colleagues even play pranks on Pat as well. I’m a mild fan of Bullock, but her performance here is just kind of bland. I suppose more fault should lie with the role itself as the film never gets out of neutral. While I’ve never been big into politics (save for the most current presidential debates), it’s hard to see who could be moved by the film. The story is sluggish, and there’s just nothing here of interest. One of the issues here might be the fact that I never cared about the general outcome. We garner so little interest for the characters in the film that it’s hard to invest much in them.
Video: How’s it look?
While not the most attractive looking film, the transfer still does a fine job of at least replicating it. The print is pristine and colors always nice and accurate. Details remained strong, such as trying to see where Thornton’s natural hairline begins. The image is AVC encoded with a 1.85:1 ratio. Fans will be pleased.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The DTS HD track is fairly basic, getting the job done. Vocals are fine, but this is a mostly talky film, so don’t expect tons of background noise. We do get occasional bits during the outdoor scenes, but that’s about it. This track serves the film as it should, no real issues, just don’t expect something robust
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Sandra Bullock: A role like no other – This goes for about 11 minutes and features cast and crew interviews. It’s nothing deep, but offers decent information for checking out one time.
- Previews
The Bottom Line
You could blame many issues on why Crisis failed to find an audience, but the most crucial one if this: The film sucks. That’s putting it bluntly, yes, but there’s just little here on interest. It doesn’t work as a satire, we don’t care about the plot, characters or outcome. That leaves us with nothing to maintain our interest. Skip it.
