Our Brand Is Crisis
Short description
Our Brand Is Crisis follows Jane Bodine, a once-celebrated American political strategist whose career has collapsed. Recruited to run the faltering presidential campaign of a Bolivian candidate, she initially refuses, then takes the job after learning that her longtime rival, Pat Candy, is advising the opposing camp. Set against a South American election, the film deals with the export of American campaign techniques and with Jane's attempt to recover her professional footing through a contest that is as personal as it is political. Sandra Bullock plays the strategist known as Calamity Jane, with Billy Bob Thornton as her adversary. Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kazan, Scoot McNairy and Ann Dowd round out the principal cast. The screenplay was written by Peter Straughan, and the film was produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov.
David Gordon Green directed, placing the film seventh in a run that had reached fourteen features by this point, between Joe and Manglehorn. It is a work of comedy and drama built around a large credited cast and crew.
Made for about 28 million dollars, the film returned roughly 7 million worldwide, a shortfall that shapes how it is now viewed commercially. Audiences are mixed: on IMDb it holds 6.1 from about 24,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.9 from some 537 votes. A critics' rating of 5.4 from 169 reviews sits below the audience scores, indicating a lukewarm reception on both sides.
What's left behind the scenes
- La Partida by the Chilean group Inti Illimani plays in the background during the end credits. This is an arrangement of a composition by Víctor Jara – a Chilean singer and communist activist who was killed by putschists during the military coup in 1973.
- Initially, the protagonist in the film was a man, but director David Gordon Green and screenwriter Peter Strahan rewrote the role for Sandra Bullock.
- The film tells about the involvement of the American company Greenberg, Carville, Shrum in the 2002 presidential elections in Bolivia.
- When Sandra Bullock's character is informed that candidate Castillo, played by Joaquim de Almeida, has broken a promise made during the election campaign regarding the IMF, she replies: "As a wise man once said, 'If elections made a difference, they'd be illegal.' In reality, this phrase belongs to a woman, Emma Goldman (1868-1940). This anarchist, known as Red Emma, was deported to Soviet Russia in 1919.
- The film's screenplay was included in the so-called "Black List" of 2008 – a list of the most promising, but unrealized projects.
- Filming took place mostly in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico.
- During the interview with Jane at the very beginning of the film, a black and white photo of Jane from the past briefly appears in the frame. In reality, this is a photograph of Sandra Bullock, the actress who played Jane, from the thriller "The Net" (Irwin Winkler, 1995).
- George Clooney was cast for one of the roles in the film, but he left the project, and the role went to Billy Bob Thornton.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
