October 11, 2006
Our Brand is Crisis
Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ***½
With not even enough national wins under their belt to count on one hand, why wouldn't three of the top-paid American political consultants franchise out their brand of vague market-driven democracy and export it around the world? The fascinating documentary Our Brand is Crisis dares to ask, what's the worst that could happen? The film recounts the 2002 Bolivian presidential race when Bolivian-born political exile Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez was elected with the help of GCS, an American political consulting firm started by Stan Greenberg, James Carville and Bob Shrum.
First-time film-maker Rachel Boynton gained an incredible amount of access to the candidate and his strategists, capturing moments that American candidates would never let see the light of day: the first conversation about starting negative advertising, shameless discussion of how to spin every question back to his own talking points and the crisis of conscience the candidate has when knowing he must say something he doesn't believe to get elected.
Despite being virtually embedded with the political consultants, Boynton doesn't fall into their rabbit hole of spin - as she repeatedly prods the consultants about whether it's ethical to give all this persuasion to a candidate that has so little public support (he eventually wins the 11-candidate race with 22% of the popular vote) and illustrates a brief overview of the Bolivian government's history of protest and corruption.
DVD extras include feature-length director's commentary.
See also: The War Room, The Corporation, Harlan County USA, Mondovino, K Street series, Primary Colors, Wag the Dog.
Posted by cphillips at October 11, 2006 4:00 PM
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