Bulworth Poster

Bulworth (1998)

Comedy | Romance 
Rayting:   6.8/10 24.7K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 27 May 1999

A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip hop music and culture.

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gavin6942 12 February 2006

I should have known this movie was going to be good because it came highly recommended by Matt Lueck, who seems to be very picky about what he considers "good" movies. This movie was exceptional.

If you don't like politics, this film might not be for you. Or maybe it would be for you even more, since all it does is attack the political system. Warren Beatty stars as a Seantor who is sick of all the lies and crap in Washington, so he takes out a life insurance policy and hires a hit-man to kill him. After partying with some ghetto people (including Halle Berry) he sees the error of his ways and tries to call the hit off. The rest of the film follows this path.

I liked the storyline of the film, but more so I liked the nuggets it dropped along the way. The claims of politicians using minorities, the reality of drug culture, the fact that greed controls health care in this country. I found myself agreeing with almost everything in this film (though the part about the elimination of all races went too far). The ending was also exactly what I expected it to be - and what I felt it should have been. Only they added an aspect I hadn't considered and I think it made the film so much better. (I'm being vague so as not to give anything away.) Warren Beatty rapping is both comical and annoying. But if you look past his "wack skillz" and listen to what he has to say about corporations, big oil, TV networks and more, you'll get so much more out of this film. I'm also not a fan of Halle Berry, but she was probably the best person for the role so I'm okay with that. Hooray for Oliver Platt and Sean Astin, both looking very slim in this movie.

Not the best film you'll see this year, but highly recommended just the same.

bkoganbing 23 January 2007

Fmovies: Warren Beatty's Bulworth is one devastating satire on the political scene of the Clinton years. Sad to say things really ain't gotten any better here.

J. Billington Bulworth, Democratic Senator from California at one time rising liberal star has had to tack mighty heavily to the right in order to keep his office. Even at doing that he's facing a heavily financed rightwing opponent.

With defeat staring him in the face and no home life so to speak with both he and his wife pursuing the opposite sex, Bulworth just decides to chuck it all. His friends in the insurance industry are writing him one whopping life insurance policy and Bulworth hires a hit man to do him in.

Of course no with nothing to lose our U.S. Senator who before mouthed the political platitudes and nostrums we get from our elected officials at voting time, now starts telling some uncomfortable truths. Lack of sleep and some controlled substances produce a rapping U.S. Senator who along the way picks up some black groupie types with Halle Berry. The consequences of all these hijinks you'll have to watch Bulworth for.

One friend has compared it Network and there are certainly some similarities. I think Bulworth should be seen back to back with Robert Redford's The Candidate. If you'll remember Redford was the idealistic liberal who trimmed his sails through the advice of his hired spin doctors and got himself elected U.S. Senator from California. His Bill MacKay was wondering what he does then at the end of that film. I think Bulworth provides some answers as to a possible direction MacKay might have taken.

Warren Beatty wrote a witty script and a mean rap. Director Beatty gets some good performances by his cast and best in the supporting cast is his aide Oliver Platt who sees his whole career going down the tubes. There's a peculiar symbiotic relationship between Capitol Hill staffers and their bosses. They serve at the pleasure of, but at the same time a good one can make himself pretty valuable to his boss. Platt's such a guy, his character is quite authentic.

Remember watch Bulworth back to back with The Candidate.

Movie-12 25 September 1999

BULWORTH (1998) ***1/2

Starring: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Oliver Platt, Isaiah Washington, and Christine Baranski Directed, produced, and written by Warren Beatty 108 minutes Rated R (for pervasive strong language, drug use, sexual references, and brief violence)

By Blake French:

I have seen a lot of movies in my time, but I have never seen anything as witty, as twisted, as entertaining, as outrageous, or as original as Warren Beatty's new political satire "Bulworth." It is, at times, funny, but at others very dark. I can't recall ever stating that a "serious comedy," is one of the years best films before. That was then, this is now--and "Bulworth" is truly one of the better film's of 1998.

As the movie opens, a US senator named Jay Billington Bulworth, hires a hit man to kill an individual of his desire. The hit man wonders exactly who this person is in which a man of such power wishes to eliminate. As it turns out, Bulworth has paid this hit man to kill his own suicidal self. "If I'm not dead by Monday, I'm canceling that check." Bulworth states firmly.

This is were the outrageous humor begins. During a campaign speech at a local African American church, Bulworth goes seemingly nuts. He begins to tell the citizens the truth about subjects in congress that most politicians would never think of revealing to the general public. His representative, Dennis Murphy, who cares only about getting Bulworth elected, almost faints in shock and disbelief. But you have to understand, these are the last days that Bulworth will be experiencing life, so why not reveal secrets, release envelop pushing information, and start up controversy with the nation with his last breaths.

"Never make life of death decisions when you're suicidal," explains Bulworth during one of the film's more invigoration sequences. He is talking to a woman named Nina, whom he met nonchalantly during one of his presentation speeches. The two of them fall in love. Too bad Bulworth has not taken his own advice typed above, for his death is near. But is Nina who she appears to be? Is his wife, Constance Bulworth, having an affair with another man? Is Bulworth's demise in the near future? All suitable questions that will all be answered when you see the movie.

Parts of the film do not work. For instance, the subplot involving Bulworth's wife who is adulterous just isn't detailed enough, nor are the characters introduced, for us to even consider this anything but a gimmick. True, the affair does symbolize chaos preoccupied in his household, and establishes another reason for him to be suicidal. Still, it's too small for a movie that offers so many good qualities.

"Bulworth" has a detailed opening that provokes empathy for our main character, Jay Bulworth. We learn of an external problem, Jay being involved in a heated presidential campaign, and an internal problem, Jay being suicidal and calling a hit on himself. The structure only goes uphill from there, and that is hard to do. Both conflicts are evolved, with Nina, Bulworth's sense of honesty, the hit man's presence, and several character & plot twists in which someone is not who they appear to be.

Along with some very dramatic and meaningful moments found in "Bulworth," also contained is dialogue that is smart, witty, and at times hilarious. The first shock value sequence is truly outrageous, a

drednm 1 January 2006

Bulworth fmovies. In BULWORTH Warren Beatty gives one of his funniest and most outrageous performances. This sharp political satire is even more timely now than it was in 1998. This is a marvelously subversive movie on several fronts: politics, race, economics, Hollywood itself! Beatty stars as a fading senator from California who is so burned out he arranges for a large insurance policy and then hires a hit man. He's at the end of his rope personally and professionally. He's losing in a primary election to a young gun and has nothing left in his life. After days without sleep or eating he is dragged off to a rally at a Black church. He starts to read his "usual" speech but almost in a state of delirium he starts answering questions HONESTLY. He enrages the Black congregation with his brutal answers but somehow feels buoyant. Outside the church as the mobs surround him he runs into Halle Berry and her friends and they all take off in the limo.

This starts a voyage of discovery for Beatty. Of course at this point Beatty is also running from the hit man. His new honesty unleashes a desire to live. They arrive at a Black hip-hop club where Beatty drinks, smokes pot, and is transformed by the loud urban rap music. The dance scene with Beatty and Berry is remarkable.

Next stop is a speech at a fancy Hollywood hotel filled with film executives. Beatty makes many comments of how Jews run Hollywood, becomes rich, but turn out a crappy product. Next comes a debate with his political opponent, and finally an interview. The new Beatty parrots back much of what he has heard from poor Blacks but of course he has always known the truth. His sense of freedom from the back-room politics of Washington is exhilarating and his new voice reaches the masses of disenfranchised voters. His comments about the media and how it is controlled by corporate America is more apt now (during the Bush administration) than ever before.

Beatty is brilliant, and this ranks as one of his very best performances. Berry is actually good as well in her pre-movie star mode when she still bothered to act. Oliver Platt scores as the political aide. Paul Sorvino is a lobbyist for the insurance industry.

Jack Warden, Helen Martin, Don Cheadle, Christine Baranski, Florence Stanley, Laurie Metcalf, Sean Astin, Isaiah Washington, Nora Dunn, Joshua Malina, William Baldwin, Hart Bochner, Armelia McQueen, and Jackie Gayle co-star.

Filled with humor, political insights, and top-notch performances. This acid look at politics in Amerca is more timely now than ever. Bravo to Warren Beatty!

billcr12 22 August 2012

Warren Beatty is the director, writer, and star of Bulworth, a political black comedy in the tradition of Bob Roberts and the Contender. He is an old fashioned 60s liberal who has moved to the center to appease the voters. His marriage has secretly been an open one for years, showing the public the perfect couple; sounds like the Clintons. He decides to take out a large life insurance policy and have someone kill him, in order to leave the money to his daughter. He goes off the deep end by appearing at campaign events drunk and making inappropriate comments, which make him a media star. He meets a staffer, Nina(the physically perfect Halle Berry), and the senator quickly hook up; surprise, surprise. Her brother is a drug dealer, and Bulworth hangs out with them and she reveals a big secret. He is revitalized as a candidate and the movie ends ambiguously. Beatty is funny and likable as the politician, and I am always mesmerized by Berry's beauty. Bulworth is a solid 8/10.

runamokprods 12 December 2011

Other than a few forced silly moments, this is the sharpest, darkest, bravest. most disturbing political satire out of Hollywood since "Network".

This is Beatty's career best performance by far, making his rapidly breaking down liberal Democrat Senator into a character simultaneously howlingly funny, pitiable, admirable, wince inducing, pathetic and horrifying.

Beatty has made a film that walks the razor's edge right along with it's lead character, playing into deliberately provoking racial and cultural stereotypes at the same time it shreds them.

This isn't a polite "the system needs fixing" movie, it's an in-your-face scream that the system is broken, perhaps beyond all repair. That idea seems only more timely now.

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