The Best Part of That 'Our Brand Is Crisis' Trailer
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 7:01PM Glenn here, asking if you have watched the trailer for Our Brand is Crisis? It's the new Sandra Bullock movie that was meant to be the new George Clooney movie that, somewhat infamously, came to be after the gender was flipped on the lead character. Bullock plays a political strategist who gets hired to spearhead the campaign of a contender in the 2002 Bolivian government elections and finds herself battling against both rival Billy Bob Thornton and the native language. What a predicament!
The film is based on a 2005 documentary of the same name and is directed by David Gordon Green who, let's be honest, is peculiar. His whole career is made up of peculiar choices so we'll go with it for now.
The trailer is... interesting. It certainly presents as being in the same vein as Argo, a movie that is quite largely name-checked, albeit perhaps a bit more overtly comedic in tone. It's also got more than a hint of the "nice white lady" routine that made Bullock's 2009 Oscar-winning vehicle The Blind Side such a lightning rod. It is great to see the likes of Anthony Mackie and Ann Dowd with such (apparently) prominent roles, although I would have preferred more than just a passing glance of my beloved Scoot McNairy (he's there at the one-minute mark).
Consider this another BYOYNMS (remember, we introduced that new blog acronym last week) and pipe up in the comments about what you think.
I did, however, want to make mention of what is clearly the best moment in the trailer. It comes right at the start and actually made me scream with glee. Can you pick it by watching the trailer?
Why yes, they have used an old screenshot of The Net to represent Bullock's character in the '90s as a whiz! The Net! The 1995 Irwin Winkler-directed cyberspace thriller starring Sandra Bullock that is, just quietly, one of the most pleasurable of guilty pleasures. Mozart's Ghost, man! Pi! Praetorian! Mainframes and the world wibe web! I'd recognize that shot of Bullock frantically reaching for her floppy disc as she hacks anywhere.
How deliciously ridiculous. We should all see Our Brand is Crisis just because they were inspired enough to include that in the trailer.
Reader Comments (19)
It's Argo meets Fargo! With a bit of No! thrown in...
Would prefer Bullock to take up a slot in Best Actress than the Kentuckian c-word who will surely receive her fourth nomination and third in the Best Actress category making her one step closer to perennial status (Nick Davis).
Does any bolivian has something to say about this?
This subject was more subversive when covered by Lumet in "Power", with Gere and Chrsitie.
Oh, I don't know. I love Sandy, but Billy Bob Thornton AND smoking all the time. Hmmm....
I am so surprised to say that i am all YES with this trailer. Love the tone, love the cast, find the subject interesting.
and *hangs head in shame* i didn't realize that image was from THE NET and i'm so glad you pointed it out.
Eww at everything from "we're talking about real people here" onwards
Dan: thanks for pointing out a Julie Christie movie (directed by Sidney Lumet no less!) that was somehow not on my radar.
I'm definitely a Yes. This looks like a great role for Sandra, a perfect mix of her comedic and dramatic skills.
Dan - "Power" was a very good movie, love seeing films on Politics.
I liked this trailer, as long as it isn't too comedic I might check this film out.
Looks terrible.
I'm a No but I definitely just watched The Net thanks to this. lol
Philip H, you're welcome. MOZART'S GHOST!
I freaked out when I saw that shot from The Net! Best thing about this trailer!
Is it weird that now I'm rooting for this? To me it doesn't look any more basic or historically reductive/patronizing than Argo was. And there's a lady in the lead! Beef this up with Argo's supporting cast and you've got the version of these movies I'd really like to see.
Sorry, but now that peeps are talking about Christie directed by Lumet, all other trivialities must fall by the wayside.
If she's the best ever blah blah blah, why has she lost elections to campaigns managed by one particular guy 3-4 times? Doesn't sound like the best to me.
Sandra just doesn't seem tough enough for this role. Give me a Sandra Oh type, please.
I think Bullock needs to stay with very light fare... her acting chops are not that great... shame she owns an Oscar
White lady savior rescues Bolivians (instead of Black People in "The Blind Side") from themselves? Mehhhh. Or do they "save" her in the end? I thought I read that this candidate in real life was corrupt as hell. Bullock > Clooney any day of the week, so no problems there, but this reeked of "Argo" and "The Ides of March," two films I didn't care for in the slightest. I do like this ensemble of Ann Dowd, Anthony Mackie, Billy Bob, and the candidate guy. So conflicted! Trailer gets a Maybe from me. I'll see it if the reviews wow and Bullock seems Oscar-bound.