Cynical ‘Our Brand Is Crisis’ is good fit for Bullock

Starring Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton and Anthony Mackie. Directed by David Gordon Green.

Rated R for language including some sexual references. Check listings for theaters. 1 hour, 47 minutes.

Bottom line: An acidic, biting political satire

The Sandra Bullock-starring “Our Brand Is Crisis,” is an acidic, biting political satire that asserts the notion that marketing has taken over the democratic process. There’s truth in that thesis, especially since the film is based on a documentary of the same name that captured the machinations of American political and branding consultants for hire during a 2002 election in Bolivia.

“Calamity” Jane (Bullock) is dragged out of self-imposed retirement by Ben (Anthony Mackie) and Nell (Ann Dowd), political operatives looking for a scapegoat as much as they are a ringer. They’ve secured a contract with a presidential candidate, Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida), in Bolivia and are heading for parts South with a team including branding guru Buckley (Scoot McNairy). What actually gets Jane on the plane to Bolivia is the chance to square off with her longtime sworn nemesis, Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), who’s been enlisted by the competition.

Jane is a perfect role for Bullock’s everywoman persona — she plays her as a bit of an idiot savant, rumpled, constantly clutching a half-eaten bag of salty snacks, outfitted in her ever present trench coat and glasses. She spouts Sun Tzu and Machiavelli quotes at random, but she’s clear-eyed and not a sycophant, which allows her to see through the mess of Castillo’s campaign. She claims the nebulous threat of “crisis” as their brand, and the tide starts to turn. When she launches all out war on their competition, it’s personal more than anything else — she just wants to beat Pat Candy.

The team, and the film, harbor no starry-eyed belief in Castillo as a candidate — he’s basically the Donald Trump of Bolivia, a billionaire who’s been president once before. The people believe he will go running right to the IMF and plunge their country into a pit of globalized debt.

Jane is a genius, but she’s deeply flawed and complicated, struggling with substance abuse, mental illness, her own past regrets. That dark underbelly adds depth and dimension to the ironic humor of “Our Brand is Crisis.” The team laughs, drinks, and pranks each other to keep their own consciences at bay. Jane’s real demon is her own existential terror.

The film is deeply cynical, and there’s a fearlessness in that cynicism. This is undermined in the eleventh hour by an implausible change of heart that feels tacked on to please focus groups and give the film a Hollywood ending. While Jane gets the hero’s redemption, she’s far more interesting when she’s not being a hero.