Themes: Fighting the System, Race Relations, On the Campaign Trail
Main Cast: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Oliver Platt, Paul Sorvino
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Warren Beatty directed, co-produced (with Pieter Jan Brugge), co-scripted (with Jeremy Pikser), and stars in this political satire, a comedy-drama about a U.S. senator who decides to start speaking the truth. Despondent California Sen. Jay Bulworth (Beatty), up for re-election, is disillusioned by the usual campaign banalities; his marriage to Constance (Christine Baranski) seems equally hollow. In the midst of a nervous breakdown, Bulworth goes without sleep or food for three days and takes out a $10 million insurance policy on himself while arranging his own assassination. Drinking during a return to Los Angeles, Bulworth is scheduled to speak at an African-American church in South Central L.A. Once there, he tosses aside his prepared speech, startling both the audience and his campaign manager Murphy (Oliver Platt) by improvising truthful remarks instead of the familiar rhetoric. These loose-cannon salvos gain the attention of an attractive young woman, Nina (Halle Berry). Bulworth finds an exhilaration with this new freestyle approach, and after shocking a gathering in Beverly Hills with further fulminations, Bulworth invites Nina and her girlfriends into his limo. During a spaced-out sojourn at one of South Central's more frenzied after-hours clubs, Bulworth gains respect for hiphop culture. Still reeling from insights gained by this nightlife, he arrives the next day for a fund-raising function at the Beverly Wilshire, startling everyone with a diatribe delivered in the intonations of a rap artist. His interest in Nina and his new optimistic outlook on life give Bulworth a sense of elation and a will to live. He phones to call off the hit, but gears have been set in motion. After an assumed hitman turns up during a church appearance, Bulworth flees, and Nina offers him a safe-house hideout at the home of her family, veterans of the Civil Rights movement. Here Bulworth goes through the final steps in his transformation -- making a Kennedy-styled connection with the disenfranchised as he tunes into forgotten memories of the '60s. Outfitted in homeboy clothing, the born again Bulworth heads for a TV station to unleash even more caustic comments on the American political scene. Language and drug use brought this film an R rating. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
As co-producer, co-writer, director and star, Warren Beatty puts his political and comedic cards on the table in his pungent satire of the 1990s political system in Bulworth. As a corrupt California senator rejuvenated by telling it like it is, love for enigmatic Halle Berry, and immersion in African American pop culture, Beatty pokes fun at his own image as an aging rebel-turned-Establishment figure while critiquing the state of American politics in the Bill Clinton era. Inspired by Amiri Baraka's metaphorical griot, Bulworth's shift to expounding the truth in rap becomes a spectacle of deeply serious comedy as he takes aim at the corporate control of politics, and race/class divisions. Oliver Platt's frantic spin doctor, Laurie Metcalf's C-SPAN reporter, Don Cheadle's reformed drug baron, Paul Sorvino's insurance executive, and Christine Baranski's jaded political wife further underline the humorously pointed message about political and media hypocrisy. A rare Hollywood film in its overtly confrontational stance, Bulworth provoked debate over racial stereotyping and ideological intent, but critics, black and white, were also impressed by Beatty's boldness as well as the excellent performances, polished production and sharp wit. As co-writer with Jeremy Pikser, Beatty earned his 14th Oscar nomination for Bulworth's screenplay. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
William F. O'Brien - Art Director, Jeanne McCarthy - Casting, Victoria Thomas - Casting, Frank Capra III - Co-producer, Victoria Thomas - Co-producer, Milena Canonero - Costume Designer, Frank Capra III - First Assistant Director, Warren Beatty - Director, Billy Weber - Editor, Robert Jones - Editor, Lauren Shuler-Donner - Executive Producer, Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score), Dean Tavoularis - Production Designer, Vittorio Storaro - Cinematographer, Warren Beatty - Producer, Pieter Jan Brugge - Producer, Rick Simpson - Set Designer, Dianne I. Wager - Set Designer, Thomas D. Causey - Sound/Sound Designer, Warren Beatty - Screen Story, Warren Beatty - Screenwriter, Jeremy Pikser - Screenwriter, Michael J. Moore - Second Assistant Director, Mya Harrison - Featured Music, Zelda Barron - Consulting Producer
A veteran Senate Democrat, Bulworth is losing his bid for re-election to a fiery young opponent. Bulworth's liberal views, formed in the 1960s and 1970s, have lost favor with voters, and so he has conceded to moderate politics and to accepting donations from special interests. In addition, though he and his wife (Christine Baranski) have been having affairs openly for years, they must still present a happy facade in the interest of maintaining a good public image.
While planning to commit suicide, Bulworth negotiates a $10 million life insurance policy with his daughter listed as the beneficiary in exchange for a favorable vote for the insurance industry. Tired with the state of affairs and politics in general, he then contracts to have himself assassinated within two days' time. Afterwards, turning up in California for his campaign extremely drunk, Bulworth begins speaking his mind freely at public events and in the presence of the C-SPAN film crew following his campaign. After ending in a night club and smoking marijuana, he even starts rapping in public. His frank, potentially offensive remarks make him an instant media darling and re-energize his campaign. After becoming involved with young campaigner Nina (Halle Berry), Bulworth tries to set his sordid political track-record straight while he is pursued by the paparazzi, his insurance company, his campaign managers, Nina's protective drug-dealing brother, and an increasingly adoring public, all before his impending assassination.
Eventually Nina tells him that she is in fact the assassin he indirectly hired, but she will now not carry out the job. Bulworth happily accepts a new campaign for the presidency right before he is assassinated before a crowd of reporters and urban supporters by an insurance representative (Paul Sorvino) fearful of Bulworth's push for socialized medicine.
This film presents a great deal of controversial political and social commentary—often, but not always, through Bulworth's open, honest, and unusual campaign speeches. These speeches are often especially (and comically) controversial due to the demographic of Bulworth's audience, and many of the beliefs espoused by Bulworth closely mirror Beatty's actual political beliefs. Memorable scenes include his comments to the African American church near the beginning; his comments to the supposedly Jewish movie producers (which may also be a tongue-in-cheek comment on behalf of the writers); Bulworth's comments about corporations controlling the American political system, and the ongoing comments depicting Democrats and Republicans as being just as bad as the other. Nina also makes some insightful comments as to why there are no black leaders anymore, as does L.D. in justifying using children in his drug-dealing business, which Bulworth later repeats verbatim on CNN. The assassination of Bulworth is iconic in that the imagery of the scene is similar to the photo record of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in which the people present pointed to where the shot came from in the picture. This further illustrates the movie’s theme that the black leaders are dying. It can be inferred that Bulworth was destined to be the next great leader of the African American community. This can also be inferred by Nina’s family referring to themselves as Bulworth Democrats. However, the overall theme of the film is espoused by an anonymous vagrant (played by poet Amiri Baraka) who encourages Bulworth to, "Sing, be a spirit, Don't be no ghost!".
Trivia
The word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 111 times.
