Our Brand Is Crisis (2015 film)

In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Castillo (a fictionalized version of presidential candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada) hires an American political consulting firm (based on James Carville's Greenberg Carville Shrum firm) to help him win the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. The firm brings in "Calamity" Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) to manage Castillo's fledging campaign. The opposition's top political consultant is her nemesis, fellow American Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton). In Bolivia, the situation is tense: Bodine learns that the indigenous people, who are a majority in the country but lack any real political power, are protesting for constitutional reform to get proper representation.

The American consultants, not knowing the language or the culture of Bolivia, are persuaded by Bodine, a burned out veteran of American politics, to follow a strategy of smear campaigning to make up for their candidate's shortcomings. However, Castillo refuses to give permission for the team to do so. It is only after Bodine arranges for the distribution of a flyer accusing Castillo of a long-ago affair (and blaming it on the opposition) does she finally get him to agree to smear his opponents likewise.

In the following months, the team exercises a strategy of "declaring a crisis". They plan to frighten the people, with the aim of persuading them to vote for the unsympathetic but known Castillo rather than the younger opposition candidates. They even resort to publishing photos of their enemy with Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie in the background, so that he has to deny being a Nazi. Castillo's bus is stopped by a group of protesters who don't want the International Monetary Fund in Bolivia. Castillo promises them that he will not invite the IMF without a public referendum. Eduardo, a young volunteer of the Castillo campaign, is deeply impressed by this show of commitment. His loyalty comes mostly from the fact that Castillo, who was president at the time, took a young Eduardo on his arm during a rally in his town. Nevertheless, his brothers are much more skeptical about Castillo.

During the final debate, Bodine cites a quote in a conversation with Candy (knowing that he'll give it to rival candidate Rivera for his speech) saying that "a great man" said it. Unfortunately, the quote is actually from Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Castillo wins the vote by a small margin. As one of his first actions, he invites the IMF into Bolivia, thereby breaking his promise. The deeply disappointed Eduardo visits Bodine in her hotel; Bodine replies that she is not responsible for Castillo's actions. In her eyes, her job is done.

The disillusioned Eduardo joins his brothers at a demonstration of people demanding change. The police arrive and the demonstration quickly turns into a riot. Bodine and her crew join Candy on the way to the airport. All of them, except Bodine, have already taken jobs as political consultants in other countries. When Bodine realizes that she brought a liar into office, she has the car stopped and leaves to join Eduardo.

• Sandra Bullock as 'Calamity' Jane Bodine,[5] a retired political consultant hired by an unpopular Bolivian politician to help him win the presidential election.
• Scoot McNairy[6] as Richard Buckley
• Billy Bob Thornton as Pat Candy,[7] Jane's nemesis, who leads the opposition's campaign.
• Anthony Mackie[8] as Ben
• Ann Dowd[9] as Nell
• Joaquim de Almeida as Pedro Castillo,[10] the Bolivian Presidential candidate who hires Jane.
• Zoe Kazan[10] as LeBlanc, a researcher who specializes in digging up dirt on candidates.
• Reynaldo Pacheco[11] as Eduardo, a young volunteer who befriends Jane.
• Dominic Flores[11] as Hugo
• Louis Arcella[11] as Rivera
• Octavio Gómez Berríos[11] as Pepe
• Luis Chavez[12] as Abraham
• Tilda Del Toro as Pedro Castillo's secretary
• Carmela Zumbado as a reporter (cameo)

On April 22, 2007, it was announced that George Clooney would produce a dramatization of the 2005 documentary Our Brand Is Crisis, along with Grant Heslov, and Warner Bros. would handle American distribution rights.[13] Peter Straughan was set to write the script, with Clooney attached as a potential director and star for the film, about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election's campaign by James Carville's Washington, D.C.-based political consulting firm Greenberg Carville Shrum,[14][15] which was hired by candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.[13] On December 11, 2013, Sandra Bullock was in early talks to star in the film, while Clooney chose not to direct, and his starring in the film was also unconfirmed at that time.[16] On August 21, 2014, Bullock's casting was confirmed, playing a retired political consultant called 'Calamity' Jane Bodine, and David Gordon Green was set to direct the film.[5] On September 11, Scoot McNairy was added to the cast.[6] On September 15, Billy Bob Thornton joined the film,[7] and on September 18, Anthony Mackie joined the cast.[8] On September 24, Ann Dowd joined the film.[9] On October 10, Joaquim de Almeida and Zoe Kazan joined the cast, with Almeida playing Castillo, the former president of Bolivia, and Kazan playing a young woman who finds dirt on political candidates.[10] On October 13, 2014, Participant Media announced that they would co-finance the film with Warner, while Jeffrey Skoll and Jonathan King would executive produce, along with Bullock and Stuart M. Besser.[11] More casting was also announced, which included Reynaldo Pacheco, Dominic Flores, Louis Arcella, and Octavio Gómez.[11]

In July 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled the film for an October 30, 2015 release, during the awards season.[21] It had a wide release in 2,202 theaters for 21 days.[22]

• Our Brand Is Crisis at IMDb
• Our Brand Is Crisis at Box Office Mojo
• Our Brand Is Crisis at Rotten Tomatoes
• Our Brand Is Crisis at Metacritic
• Ourbrandiscrisis.org Parody website of film illustrating deadly consequences of election of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada