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Maybe I'm reviewing to many movies from the 90s. [*shrugs*] Eh, watcha gonna do?
Rarely in his career has Warren Beatty made a movie that doesn't sucker punch some corner stone of the establishment. Were I a more highly paid critic (right now I'm pulling down $0.00, after taxes) I might go into how The Parallax View reflects on the stupidity of the government when faced with conspiracies. Or how Macabe and Mrs. Miller pokes fun at the rich and the powerful. However, the Chicago Sun Times isn't exactly beating down my door, so I'll just stick to Bulworth.
It is mid March 1996, and the primaries are winding down. Bill Clinton's the man from the Democratic party and Bob Dole's the man for the Republican Party. While this is going on, California Senator Jay Billington Bulworth (Beatty) has a nervous breakdown. Bulworth is one of those politicians who plays ball like Mark Maguire. You scratch his back and he'll scratch yours. You cough up the cash and he will pay attention to you. He stands for nothing but the dollar. His wife is a cheat, his daughter is aloft and he doesn't have an opinion to call his own.
Basically, his life sucks.
In a beautifully acted opening scene, we see him realize that his life sucks while watching his own repetitive TV spots. As the dust settles Bulworth decides to kill himself, and hires a hitman to do the deed. "If I'm not dead by Monday I'll stop payment on that check," he tells the contact.
That done, it's off to California to win some votes. Yet, Bulworth realizes he has nothing to loose, so he does something revolutionary in the world of politics: he tells the truth. He stands up in a black church and tells the congregation they mean squat in the eyes of the Democratic party. He tells the attendees of a film industry party that there stuff sucks (amen, brotha!).
Now, here's the kicker: At a fund raising brunch packed full of industrial leaders, Jay tells them all how disgusting their business practices are. But the real twist is he does it all in a furiously political rap song.
Yes, Warren Beatty raps. And he's pretty good, too. He's no Bone Thugs and Harmony mind you, but hey, this is Warren, firkin', Beatty we're talking about here. And seeing him (in a full suit and tie) rapping about the injustice of society is the funniest site I've seen all year. Maybe ever.
Oh, and we have our love story. Of course. In the past, I've been rather overtly cynical about these things. However, here as Bulworth falls in love with a young black girl named Nina (Halle Berry), this love story contributes to the plot. After finally getting all the crap off his chest (which actually helps his political career) and falling in love with someone, Bulworth finds he doesn't want to die anymore. Unfortunatly, the hitman's boss suffers a heart attack before he can cancel the kill order.
See? It is possible to have a love story be more the just a slick way to get to know your main character.
And what a main character he is. Bulworth (written, as was the whole movie, by Beatty himself) is one of the most original characters to come out of Hollywood in a long time. Going from insane, to righteous, Bulworth exposes what my mother (a civics teacher) calls "The True Democracy". A Democracy owned by businesses, where opinions can be bought and sold.
In Bulworth's own words: "People got their problems, their haves and their have-nots. But the ones that make me listen pay for 30 second spots."
Everyone else in the cast (and yes, there are other people here, too). Is great. Providing great comic relief is Bulworth's campaign manager, Dennis Murphy (Oliver Platt). As he watches his candidate spin out of control, he takes up cocaine and becomes hyper as a kid on sugar, only to realize that Bulworth is actually helping both their careers. Platt's character is a rare breed: comic relief that's actually funny.
Halle Berry's Nina is fine. I mean fine! Plus she can act to. Starting out the movie as just another getto chick, we learn the true depth of her character as the movie goes along. Wow, a love interest with depth? That's a new one.
Is Bulworth the perfect movie? No. Is it funny? Hell yes. Plus, it has something behind its comedy. A message that should piss off just the right people, and wake up the rest of us. So, hell yes I'm giving it 5 Gs.
RATING (OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE)