Bulworth

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1:44

Bulworth

R

1998

1h 46m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

80%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Jay Bulworth (Warren Beatty), a financially ruined senator, is now disillusioned with politics. The forlorn statesman orders a contract killing -- the target himself -- so his family will be able to collect a fortune from his insurance policy. Facing imminent death, a devil-may-care Bulworth speaks his mind in public, forsaking platitudes for honest but controversial observations. But when he falls in love with a hip young woman (Halle Berry), Bulworth urgently rethinks his impending murder.

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Critics Consensus

Star and director Beatty's ambitious take on race and politics in 20th-century America isn't perfect, but Bulworth manages to provide more than its share of thought-provoking laughs.

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Troy Patterson

Entertainment Weekly

Feb 7, 2025

B

Bulworth marks Beatty’s happiest stab at political farce since Shampoo.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Jun 24, 2006

It's a sharp, brave movie, a little ragged around the edges, but that's to its advantage.

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

Feb 14, 2001

3.5/5

What gives Bulworth its unique character is that all this silliness is periodically punctuated by cogent, carefully thought-out mini-manifestos...

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Matthew Rozsa

Democracy at Work (Substack)

May 23, 2025

3/4

Timid politicians shrinks in the face of that danger. Brave leaders acknowledge the danger but, if the stakes are sufficiently high, proceed anyway.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Jan 4, 2022

4/5

…not enough attention has been paid to Bulworth, a flawed but pertinent film, set at a particular moment in time where cell-phones and the internet don’t exist, but The Simpsons do…a cogent, cynical, prophetic film… with a shock ending to boot...

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Feb 16, 2021

Bulworth is an angry and politically astute film. More than that, it is in many ways a liberating film.

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Brian S

@BDSizemore Aug 29, 2026

Brilliant movie and prescient.

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Ari V

@RT59419633 Mar 24, 2024

Holds up very, very well. Special one.

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Van E

@RT92124993 Sep 21, 2023

This movie is underrated. It's got some stamps from it's time that are sort of absurd, but as far as biting political satire goes, I'm hard pressed to think of a better more current example that isn't just some try-hard nonsense. Bullworth pushes the envelope... in mainly really entertaining ways.

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Mark N

@RT60508879 Aug 20, 2023

Heart, soul and plenty of laughs. A political comedy that's not afraid to draw blood literally to make its point.

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May 23, 2023

Uneventful, nothing was pulling me in

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dave s

@RT68722908 Apr 2, 2022

Suicidal and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, disillusioned U.S. senator Jay Bulworth makes arrangements for his own assassination in order for his daughter to collect a ten-million-dollar insurance claim. However, things take an awkward turn on the campaign trail when he decides to speak the uncensored truth, shifting his voter base from the powerful and affluent to the poor and disenfranchised. Warren Beatty wrote, produced, directed and starred in Bulworth, a film that starts out a bit frantic, unfocused and noisy but works its way into a nice rhythm once it finds its way. The satire sometimes feels overstated, but it certainly forces the viewer to question whether or not they want their politicians to create their election platforms based on the truth.

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Warren Beatty

Director

Warren Beatty

Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth

Halle Berry

Nina

Don Cheadle

L.D.

Oliver Platt

Dennis Murphy

Paul Sorvino

Graham Crockett

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Synopsis

Jay Bulworth (Warren Beatty), a financially ruined senator, is now disillusioned with politics. The forlorn statesman orders a contract killing -- the target himself -- so his family will be able to collect a fortune from his insurance policy. Facing imminent death, a devil-may-care Bulworth speaks his mind in public, forsaking platitudes for honest but controversial observations. But when he falls in love with a hip young woman (Halle Berry), Bulworth urgently rethinks his impending murder.

Director: Warren Beatty
Producer: Warren Beatty, Pieter Jan Brugge
Screenwriter: Warren Beatty, Jeremy Pikser
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 15, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $26.4M
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Surround

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