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Movies / On DVD / Our Brand Is Crisis
Our Brand Is Crisis

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Our Brand Is Crisis (2005)

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Reviews Counted:38

Fresh:35

Rotten:3

Average Rating:7.3/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Mar 1, 2006 Limited

Synopsis: Rachel Boynton's excellent, probing documentary goes behind-the-scenes to show the manipulation and orchestration that is involved in big-time political campaigning. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS follows... Rachel Boynton's excellent, probing documentary goes behind-the-scenes to show the manipulation and orchestration that is involved in big-time political campaigning. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS follows members of the consulting firm of Greenberg Carville Shrum to Bolivia, where they have been hired to help controversial candidate Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada reclaim the presidency. With only a few weeks left before the election, consultants Jeremy Rosner, Stan Greenberg, and James Carville work their magic, softening Goni's liberal image and shaping his message to appeal to the masses. In his typically audacious fashion, Carville delivers some of the film's most unforgettable quips. Meanwhile, the unemployment situation is threatening to spark a full-fledged national riot, raising the stakes even higher. Boynton's film is edited at a brisk, taut pace, adding drama to the already tense proceedings. An insightful after-the-fact interview with Rosner provides even greater context for the horrific situation that unfolded a year later and which, in fact, opens the film with a bang. Enlightening, engaging, and thought provoking, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS is a vital, profound work of nonfiction cinema. [More]

Starring: Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada

Starring: Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada

Director: Rachel Boynton

Director: Rachel Boynton
Producer: Rachel Boynton
Studio: Koch Lorber Films

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 5, 2006

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • A Film by Rachel Boynton.
  • For decades, U.S. strategists-for-hire have been quietly molding the opinions of voters and the messages of candidates in elections from the Middle East to the South American jungle. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS follows James Carville, Jeremy Rosner, and a team of political consultants as they launch a media-savvy campaign for Bolivian presidential candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. With unprecedented access to think sessions, media training, and the making of smear campaigns, witness a shocking example of America "spreading democracy" overseas and its earth-shattering aftermath.
  • "Momentous...astounding!" Laura Kern, The New York Times
  • "...a fascinating glimpse of the Americanized marketing of international politics..." Premiere Magazine
  • WINNER: International Documentary Association (IDA) Award
  • Source: Koch Entertainment Distribution
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Our Brand Is Crisis

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    1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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    It's tough not to root for them to succeed. That's a testament to Boynton's skill with the narrative.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
    07/27/06
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    Our Brand Is Crisis' queasy power comes from its understanding of how elections have tangible real-world consequences that are measured in deaths and riots as wells as polls and ballots.

    Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
    02/28/06
    Nathan Rabin
    Nathan Rabin
    AV Club

    It's a galling and provocative experience to viewers of any political persuasion, and a reminder to the left of how easily idealism can run amok.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    07/01/06
    Ty Burr
    Ty Burr
    Boston Globe
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    04/23/09
    Mattias Frey
    Mattias Frey
    Boston Phoenix

    Insightful if not altogether objective.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Tim Cogshell
    Tim Cogshell
    Boxoffice Magazine

    Politics and mass communication are the volatile subjects of Rachel Boynton's information-packed documentary.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    07/27/06
    Michael Wilmington
    Michael Wilmington
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Fascinating doc about how Bolivia markets its chief executive.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    04/11/06
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    The movie is both frightening and ironically funny, sometimes both.

    Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
    11/24/06
    John Monaghan
    John Monaghan
    Detroit Free Press

    Crisis is angry and intrigued at the same time, and so are we.

    Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
    09/20/06
    David Cornelius
    David Cornelius
    DVDTalk.com

    An amazing insight into the corporate swill that politics has become, even on the supposed ‘liberal’ side of the game.

    Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
    04/22/05
    Oz
    Oz
    eFilmCritic.com

    What's eye-opening, as well as depressing, is that the film reveals how even the politics of a nation's life and death can now be reduced to a technocratic shell game.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    03/01/06
    Owen Gleiberman
    Owen Gleiberman
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Our Brand Is Crisis is not just for political junkies and should be widely seen and discussed.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    03/01/07
    Eric Monder
    Eric Monder
    Film Journal International

    If the fascinating, if disconcerting Our Brand Is Crisis teaches us one thing, it's that consultants, handlers, lawyers, and middlemen can always find a job.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    03/01/06
    Merle Bertrand
    Merle Bertrand
    Film Threat

    What the film ably shows is how a band of Washington consultants can contribute to bloodshed and near societal collapse in a Third World nation whose politics can't be reduced to the same Beltway template now being exported around the world.

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    03/01/06
    Chris Barsanti
    Chris Barsanti
    Filmcritic.com

    Ultimately provides a vivid illustration of the not-so-hopeful future of international politics.

    Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
    03/14/06
    Frank Scheck
    Frank Scheck
    Hollywood Reporter

    Rachel Boynton’s painfully timely film is actually a full-court tragedy -- the sorry tale of a battle won and a war lost.

    Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
    04/13/06
    Ella Taylor
    Ella Taylor
    L.A. Weekly

    Boynton's main concerns are the exportation of American image advisers to other countries, and the notion that this faith in marketing is inherent in America's democratic ideology.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
    04/14/06
    Andy Klein
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat

    Boynton asks: That's the democracy we want to export? For well-paid political consultants like Carville, it's a rhetorical question.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
    04/14/06
    Glenn Whipp
    Glenn Whipp
    Los Angeles Daily News

    Unlikely as it sounds, a documentary that details with jaw-dropping candor how contemporary political campaigning works at the highest levels of government is set not in this country but in the far-off reaches of Bolivia.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    04/13/06
    Kenneth Turan
    Kenneth Turan
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Boynton takes up deep inside politics Madison Avenue style as green stamps fail to establish a lasting government in Bolivia.

    Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
    03/01/06
    Ron Wilkinson
    Ron Wilkinson
    Monsters and Critics
     
     
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