(spoiler free)
Whilst January is a favourite time of the year for the big Oscar releases we also get a lot of films with little or no buzz attached to them coming out in the month. ‘Our Brand Is Crisis’ was one of these films, I really knew nothing about it but assumed it would maybe be something similar to ‘Joy’ in that it would be about a product/brand of something. How wrong I was though and when two of the first words mentioned in the film were ‘political adviser’ my heart sank as politics is an area I have zero interest in. I thought this was going to be a repeat of ‘The Big Short’ where I was bored stiff by all the banking and business. Thankfully things turned out a little differently here.
The film takes a while to find its feet and at first it seems a little odd as you are trying to gauge whether this is a parody, serious drama or just an all out comedy. This quickly sorts itself out though and allows the audience to settle in. However just as you do settle in some character inconsistencies begin to surface, it’s a small issue which doesn’t occur to many times but it takes you out of the film for a few moments each time it does. Apart from these few moments the performances across the board are good with support from the likes of Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton and Anthony Mackie. Whilst Mackie was good I seem to find that he has trouble easing into roles other than Falcon from the MCU, I’ve yet to see a really great performance from him outside of this role. This is only an observation rather than a complaint though as he fulfills his role here fine. Of course the stand out performer is the lead actress, Sandra Bullock. She is very convincing and likeable in this role and my word can she deliver a good speech, at times I wanted to go out and canvas for her presidential candidate, she certainly nailed this aspect of her character. One other supporting performance stood out too though, Reynaldo Pacheco who plays Eduardo in the movie. An unknown actor to me previously but one I’ll be looking out for in the future.
The film actually manages to make politics and a presidential campaign interesting and entertaining. However, I am unsure of how much of the fun and light-heartedness featured in the film would be present in this real life scenario. For the purpose of the film though it works well. The movie is surprisingly funny too which was a bonus as its humour works well as it’s often unexpected and was a great relief from the political setting. Despite this enjoyable and light-hearted tone the bulk of the finale paints a more realistic and serious insight into politics and whilst tainted slightly by directorial decisions the contrast the final moments in the film bring is still quite effective.
I’m simply amazed that a film established firmly on the foundation of politics was able to entertain me. Don’t let this subject matter put you off because if I can enjoy it anyone can. I wouldn’t suggest you rush out to see this movie straight away as it’s not massive entertainment and it does have it’s flaws. Although, I really did enjoy my time watching this movie and there are enough good moments throughout the film to warrant the price of admission to the cinema.
Rating – 7/10
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