Bulworth (1998)

Director:

Warren Beatty

Writers (WGA):

Warren Beatty (story)
Warren Beatty (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Brace yourself. This politician is about to tell the truth!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Hip Hop | Senator | Politician | Insurance | Socialism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 14 nominations

Cast

Kimberly Deauna Adams	...	Denisha
Vinny Argiro	...	Debate Director
Sean Astin	...	Gary
Kirk Baltz	...	Debate Producer
Ernie Lee Banks	...	Leroy (as Ernie Banks)
Amiri Baraka	...	Rastaman
Christine Baranski	...	Constance Bulworth
Adilah Barnes	...	Mrs. Brown
Warren Beatty	...	Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth
Graham Beckel	...	Man with Dark Glasses
Halle Berry	...	Nina
Brandon N. Bowlin	...	Bouncer #2
Mongo Brownlee	...	Henchman #3
Thomas Jefferson Byrd	...	Uncle Rafeeq
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Anthony

Also Known As:

Tribulations (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #36031) | Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 111 times.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Crewmember visible twice when Bulworth is dancing with Nina in the nightclub.

Quotes:

Debate Producer: Just between us, Senator, do you think it's advisable to schedule campaign stops with industry leaders when you have such a low opinion of their product?
Bullworth: My guys are not stupid. They always put the big Jews on my schedule. You're mostly Jews, right? Three out of four of you?
[brandishes speech]
Bullworth: I bet Murphy put something bad about Farrakhan in here for you!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bulworth Breakdown

No Bull, Just Bulworth

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.