So here’s what we’re supposed to know after seeing “Our Brand Is Crisis”:

Yep. That about does it.

OK, there is a bit more than this to David Gordon Green’s cynical and semicomedic look at two rival American political operatives slugging it out in South America. “Crisis,” which is adapted from Rachel Boynton’s documentary of the same name about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, is a decent movie — even if it’s not sure if it’s a comedy (Bullock falls down stairs, lugs around an oxygen machine, throws up, etc.), a jagged lesson in politics or a grand statement about fighting the power.

It occasionally succeeds at all of these things, but it doesn’t pack enough punch in any one area to make “Crisis” more than watchable. And that’s even given the George Clooney-produced film’s keen sense of timing. Filmmakers obviously are hoping to take advantage of a robust election season to spark interest in a fairly believable look at campaigns being more about winning than actual change.

Bullock plays “Calamity” Jane Bodine, a burned-out campaign veteran coaxed back into the game by the chance to take on former rival Pat Candy, played by Thornton. Candy is managing Victor Rivera, the current favorite in the Bolivian presidential race. Bodine’s job is to revive the campaign of former President Pedro Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida), an unpopular former president who’s running 28 points behind.

What follows is predictable — Bodine’s competitive juices get rekindled, and she injects fire into the Gallo campaign by retooling its message to stress that Bolivia needs an experienced man over a likable one, to steer the country out of a supposed “crisis.”

Bullock and Thornton were safe choices for their roles. Thornton already tackled a James Carville-like operative in 1998’s “Primary Colors,” while Bullock played nearly the same character she plays here in 2002’s “Two Weeks Notice.” They have a rollicking chemistry, keeping things fun for a while, as they exchange smears and backdoor tricks.

Perhaps partly as a means to not totally marginalize the Bolivian people, Green and screenwriter Peter Straughan throw fresh-faced Gallo campaign worker Eddie (Reynaldo Pacheco) into the mix. Eddie’s late father idolized the former President Gallo, which suggests he’s at least capable of being the leader everyone else says he’s not. Eddie’s politically savvy brothers get involved in a night on the town with campaign workers that ends with the gang vandalizing Candy’s hotel room. But before that, they engage in political dialogue that, we can be thankful, demonstrates Bolivians aren’t as helpless and uninformed as the film might otherwise suggest.

But the overriding message, which certainly isn’t new, is that power corrupts and politics is a nasty game not meant for the little people. But in “Crisis,” the point is not powerfully made. Nothing here will outrage an audience, unless people object to the tired notion that other countries still desperately need the U.S. to manage their affairs.

Contact Tony Hicks at or .

So here’s what we’re supposed to know after seeing “Our Brand Is Crisis”:

Yep. That about does it.

OK, there is a bit more than this to David Gordon Green’s cynical and semicomedic look at two rival American political operatives slugging it out in South America. “Crisis,” which is adapted from Rachel Boynton’s documentary of the same name about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, is a decent movie — even if it’s not sure if it’s a comedy (Bullock falls down stairs, lugs around an oxygen machine, throws up, etc.), a jagged lesson in politics or a grand statement about fighting the power.

It occasionally succeeds at all of these things, but it doesn’t pack enough punch in any one area to make “Crisis” more than watchable. And that’s even given the George Clooney-produced film’s keen sense of timing. Filmmakers obviously are hoping to take advantage of a robust election season to spark interest in a fairly believable look at campaigns being more about winning than actual change.

Bullock plays “Calamity” Jane Bodine, a burned-out campaign veteran coaxed back into the game by the chance to take on former rival Pat Candy, played by Thornton. Candy is managing Victor Rivera, the current favorite in the Bolivian presidential race. Bodine’s job is to revive the campaign of former President Pedro Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida), an unpopular former president who’s running 28 points behind.

What follows is predictable — Bodine’s competitive juices get rekindled, and she injects fire into the Gallo campaign by retooling its message to stress that Bolivia needs an experienced man over a likable one, to steer the country out of a supposed “crisis.”

Bullock and Thornton were safe choices for their roles. Thornton already tackled a James Carville-like operative in 1998’s “Primary Colors,” while Bullock played nearly the same character she plays here in 2002’s “Two Weeks Notice.” They have a rollicking chemistry, keeping things fun for a while, as they exchange smears and backdoor tricks.

Perhaps partly as a means to not totally marginalize the Bolivian people, Green and screenwriter Peter Straughan throw fresh-faced Gallo campaign worker Eddie (Reynaldo Pacheco) into the mix. Eddie’s late father idolized the former President Gallo, which suggests he’s at least capable of being the leader everyone else says he’s not. Eddie’s politically savvy brothers get involved in a night on the town with campaign workers that ends with the gang vandalizing Candy’s hotel room. But before that, they engage in political dialogue that, we can be thankful, demonstrates Bolivians aren’t as helpless and uninformed as the film might otherwise suggest.

But the overriding message, which certainly isn’t new, is that power corrupts and politics is a nasty game not meant for the little people. But in “Crisis,” the point is not powerfully made. Nothing here will outrage an audience, unless people object to the tired notion that other countries still desperately need the U.S. to manage their affairs.

Contact Tony Hicks at or .

So here’s what we’re supposed to know after seeing “Our Brand Is Crisis”:

Yep. That about does it.

OK, there is a bit more than this to David Gordon Green’s cynical and semicomedic look at two rival American political operatives slugging it out in South America. “Crisis,” which is adapted from Rachel Boynton’s documentary of the same name about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, is a decent movie — even if it’s not sure if it’s a comedy (Bullock falls down stairs, lugs around an oxygen machine, throws up, etc.), a jagged lesson in politics or a grand statement about fighting the power.

It occasionally succeeds at all of these things, but it doesn’t pack enough punch in any one area to make “Crisis” more than watchable. And that’s even given the George Clooney-produced film’s keen sense of timing. Filmmakers obviously are hoping to take advantage of a robust election season to spark interest in a fairly believable look at campaigns being more about winning than actual change.

Bullock plays “Calamity” Jane Bodine, a burned-out campaign veteran coaxed back into the game by the chance to take on former rival Pat Candy, played by Thornton. Candy is managing Victor Rivera, the current favorite in the Bolivian presidential race. Bodine’s job is to revive the campaign of former President Pedro Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida), an unpopular former president who’s running 28 points behind.

What follows is predictable — Bodine’s competitive juices get rekindled, and she injects fire into the Gallo campaign by retooling its message to stress that Bolivia needs an experienced man over a likable one, to steer the country out of a supposed “crisis.”

Bullock and Thornton were safe choices for their roles. Thornton already tackled a James Carville-like operative in 1998’s “Primary Colors,” while Bullock played nearly the same character she plays here in 2002’s “Two Weeks Notice.” They have a rollicking chemistry, keeping things fun for a while, as they exchange smears and backdoor tricks.

Perhaps partly as a means to not totally marginalize the Bolivian people, Green and screenwriter Peter Straughan throw fresh-faced Gallo campaign worker Eddie (Reynaldo Pacheco) into the mix. Eddie’s late father idolized the former President Gallo, which suggests he’s at least capable of being the leader everyone else says he’s not. Eddie’s politically savvy brothers get involved in a night on the town with campaign workers that ends with the gang vandalizing Candy’s hotel room. But before that, they engage in political dialogue that, we can be thankful, demonstrates Bolivians aren’t as helpless and uninformed as the film might otherwise suggest.

But the overriding message, which certainly isn’t new, is that power corrupts and politics is a nasty game not meant for the little people. But in “Crisis,” the point is not powerfully made. Nothing here will outrage an audience, unless people object to the tired notion that other countries still desperately need the U.S. to manage their affairs.

Contact Tony Hicks at or .