Why make a comedy that isn't funny? I know, I ask that same question of all of the Adam Sandler movies that I've seen since Happy Gilmore, but why label this a comedy when it just isn't funny? I'm not even sure it was intended to be funny. It's a fictionalization of a documentary from some years ago that covers the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. I wouldn't call it a drama, and it's definitely not a thriller, but I sure as hell fire wouldn't call it a comedy.
Sandra Bullock plays one of the spin doctors who doesn't really care about who wins what election or what their stance on anything is. Her job is to simply win elections. She gets pulled out of retirement to try and help Joaquim de Almeida win this election. I wish that his part was larger with more lines, and it might've been nice to dip into his talent pool to let him grace the screen a little more, but I suppose the director wanted this to be about Sandra and how she copes with the situation.
One of the reasons it so difficult for her to deal with this situation is her rival, Billy Bob Thornton, who is running the campaign for her main opposition. Their past is generally unknown to the viewer for most of the movie, but you certainly get a sense of just how much Sandra dislikes him and he enjoys toying with her. Both Billy Bob and Sandra perform their roles more than adequately.
This movie was not hit, even though George Clooney himself helped produce it. It made $8.5 million from a $28 million budget, so that's not a success. What was so wrong with it? I don't know how much of this was true, how much was pulled from the documentary, and how much was made up. Maybe if I saw the documentary I'd have a different view on this product, but I didn't, so it doesn't really matter does it? Instead, it was like watching Aubrey Plaza's character on Parks and Recreation floundering around on screen for 107 minutes without any of the humor.
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| Prepare for the drama of MEETINGS! |
The person who was running for president didn't really matter, the people who are helping Sandra didn't really matter, and even the optimistic and wide-eyed kid who is helping out the campaign who would ultimately be disappointed with any presidential candidate just didn't matter. Instead, this was all about the battle going on inside of Sandra's head, and we never really understand what exactly is happening in that head until maybe the last 10 minutes of the film when it doesn't really matter. There's a lot of talent that suffers from script.
Acting was very good
Story was bland
Script was not good
Dialogue was okay
Direction was okay
Bottom Line: Another movie with squandered talent.
2.0/5
