Gravity co-stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney reunited behind the camera for Our Brand Is Crisis, David Gordon Green’s (Eastbound & Down, Pineapple Express) film adaptation of the eponymous 2005 documentary. Bullock and Clooney co-produced the film, which is a fictionalized account of a Bolivian election that was fought and won with American campaigning strategies.
Bullock stars as “Calamity” Jane Bodine, a retired political consultant with several historical upsets under her belt who nonetheless has to head to South America to find employment. Jane must work with Ann Dowd, Anthony Mackie, Scoot McNairy, and Zoe Kazan’s characters to help their candidate, Pedro Gallo (24’s Joaquim de Almeida), win the presidential election in an unnamed South American country.
Unfortunately, Jane & Co. are saddled with the less popular candidate, as Gallo is an arrogant politician who is completely out of touch with the people he seeks to govern. They’re also up against Pat Candy (James Carville doppelgänger Billy Bob Thornton), a consultant for the opposition who’s beaten Jane on several occasions. She’s duly daunted by the competition, and initially tells her staff that losing isn’t really an option. But when Mackie’s as-yet-unnamed character reminds her there’s a lot more at stake than her win-loss record, Jane decides “this is no longer an election—this is a crisis.”
Green directed with a script from Peter Straughan, who also penned the Clooney flop The Men Who Stare At Goats. But Green’s humorous take on the proceedings has us thinking Our Brand Is Crisis is well worth the risk. The film hits theaters October 30.