BULWORTH (1998) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Warren Beatty Writers: Warren Beatty and Jeremy Pikser (story by Beatty) Starring: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, Isaiah Washington, Christine Baranski, Laurie Metcalf, Sean Astin, Richard Sarafin, Nora Dunn, Larry King, William Baldwin, George Hamilton
We first meet California Senator Jay Bullington Bulworth on TV starring in one of those television ads promoting politicians, showing them at home in their family life, working hard at work, and making a powerful speech in favor of himself directly to the audience. He says stuff like "this is a new milenium" and "I will work hard for you," just like everyone else. Then the camera cuts to Bulworth sitting in his office in the middle of the night, watching these ads, and he's balling his eyes out.
Jay Bulworth has reached a point that we probably suspect all politicians are at - where they know that what they're saying is total bullshit and they're sick of it - and then gone over it. In a suicidal, maniacally depressed state, he hires a friend of a friend named Vinnie (Richard Sarafin, the oh-so Italian mafia don from "Bound") to have him killed by the end of the weekend, then heads out to his daily speeches and public appearances. Arriving at an all-Black church in South Central L.A., he walks up to the podium, tosses away his speech, and figures "Hey, my life is over, I'll say what I want," and does just that. Afterwards, everyone's in a state of appallment, as well as shock, and Bulworth turns to his chief aide, Dennis (Oliver Platt) and says, "That was pretty good."
This is basically the premise "Bulworth," a fairy tale-like story all the more surreal and shocking because it's about a politician who actually is blunt about the way he feels, something that hasn't existed in at least the past century. It tells of a politician who wants to tell everything in a non-watered-down context, who wants to actually research what he's working for and help people, and who finds a new-found love for the career he chose a long time ago. Like I said, it's a big fairy tale.
There is more: Bulworth begins by making obnoxious and insulting observations out loud to people (at one point, he goes to a party hosted by Hollywood moguls and basically tells them that their films suck so why should they be spending so much on them?), then actually digs down deep, and begins to research what he's doing. After meeting a couple women at the South Central Church (including a woman who catches his eye - Nina, played by the gorgeous Halle Berry), he begins to learn more about South Central, most especially their culture (he finds he is, at heart, a rap lover, like I bet we all are), and soon finds he can (sorta) rap and try to use his bluntness to fix things that are wrong with the system, like problems with affirmative action, and basically the way that South Central is such a dead-end place (next stop: North Philly!).
As you probably could tell from the previews, as well as this review, "Bulworth" is not a serious satire; it's a really scathing black comedy of sorts, probably making this the funniest movie to come out this year because it's so bluntly honest about everything, and it's willing to strip everything down to the buff, which is, these days, a rare thing. We get all sorts of really sarcastic, politically incorrect jokes, like when he's at the South Central church, he tells everyone "If you don't put down that bucket of chicken wings and don't get behind a linebacker who stabs his wife in the back, you'll never get rid of someone like me!" We get to see his staff frantically try to cover up for him, most espeically Oliver Platt, who is, as always, a riot. And we even get to see the sight of Warren Beatty dressed in South Central rags, trying to rhyme every sentence so that he sounds like Grandmaster Flash on anphetemines. That alone is worth the price of admission.
But most of all, we get another great film in a trio of really pissed-off films about the way that politics have become such bullshit today (or have always been such bullshit - I dunno). After "Wag the Dog" and "Primary Colors," "Bulworth" is a successful potential end to this sorta trilogy of political cynicism, and particularly succesful because it doesn't carry the same message as either of them did. Instead of merely mocking the lies we are told or saying that politics merely destroys people, "Bulworth" is just out to say that all politics is bullshit and that if anyone actually came out and told the truth, they'd be elected in a flash, regardless of what their views are.
Warren Beatty, the director, co-writer, and star of "Bulworth" (and one of my favorite actors, who's disappearance from film for the past couple years has been dually noted by myself), has been a long-time liberal democrat, and I almost wonder if this has been a film he's been planning to make all his life, or a realization he had just now. I'm saying this because "Bulworth" comes off as being honest even about the terms "liberal" and "conservative" (as well as "Republican" and "Democrat"), saying that not even these exist in today's politics. I imagine he was watching Clinton and (Bush/Dole/Perot - you pick) debate, and he realized that Bill, the big old liberal democrat up there, was saying anything to get elected, crossing over any kind of borders between the two forms of political thought (I'm leaving out moderacy here, aren't I?). To Beatty, there doesn't seem to be political thought anymore, just people who will say anything to get elected.
As angry as Beatty's message is, he has a charming way of not letting this overpower his film, and actually being able to let this hostility work with the story and message. It's one thing to be angry, and it's another thing to be in control of your anger, and it's obvious that "Bulworth" belongs in the latter. But as brilliant and amazing as the message of "Bulworth" is, the story does have a few small kinks. For one, the romance between Bulworth and Nina doesn't totally work, but does have a certain sweetness to it that makes it hard to resist. And the assasination subplot, involving Bulworth clumsily trying to avoid his alleged assassin, doesn't really work well with anything else...until the end (funny how suicidal tendenices make you a better person in the long run, eh?). But these are so minor that they barely affect the film in the overall sense.
Oh, and look for an amazing cast of some great supporting roles - including a southern Paul Sorvino (a chameleon of regional dialects if I ever heard one), Jack Warden, Don Cheadle (who's becoming one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood - shy, gentle, alienated porn star in "Boogie Nights" to angry-as-hell drug dealer here...both totally convincing performances), and Christina Baranski as his dysfunctional wife (wait till you see who she's boning...), as well as a slew of cameos (Sean Astin...Nora Dunn...Larry King NOT appearing on his talk show...) - all of these people just add to the overall fun of the film.
It's almost sad to say it's cinematically the weakest of the three political movies to come out in awhile, because deep down, it has the best political message. But that doesn't really mean that "Bulworth" is a failure of any kind story-wise. For its entire time, it's a hilarious, entertaining-as-hell romp that has an intriguing story to tell, and one helluva message to relay. On second thought, I think that Beatty has always felt like this...it just took Clinton to make him realize it.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***1/2
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