Bulworth | | Cast : | Warren Beatty, Halle Berry | | Director : | Warren Beatty | | Studio : | Twentieth Century Fox | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | May 15, 1998 | | DVD Released Date : | February 01, 2005 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 03, 2005 | | Summary | Brilliant, hilarious film | Content
 | Other reviewers have done an excellent job summarizing the political and social themes of the film, so I won't waste time doing so. Regardless of your political affiliation, you should loosen up and enjoy this film. Personally, I was glad that they didn't fill it up with political agenda-pushing extras. The film makes you think. The extras shouldn't try to sugar coat the commentary. Excellent DVD. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 16, 2005 | | Summary | Imagine... | Content
| Imagine turning on the TV news (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC) and hearing politicians actually speaking their minds and being absolutely (brutally) honest instead of saying what they're scripted / paid / obligated to say! Imagine the lobbyists and official handlers dropping dead from massive coronaries! BULWORTH is the sort of movie that makes you wish that all politicians were human rather than ideological automatons. We are so bombarded / brainwashed from both right and left that we take sides rather than balance them out! Warren Beatty is a liberal guy. However, this movie is hardly leftist propoganda! It is a cold slap in the face of politics itself, an indictment of a rancid system based on lies and dirty deals. A system fueled by billions of left and right wing dollars, seeking only to maintain the comfortable positions of it's members. BULWORTH takes aim and machine-guns the whole bloody mess! Imagine a world where politicians spoke from their hearts. Imagine them doing their true social duties, while working for a living! In BULWORTH, it takes a total nervous breakdown for his epiphany. If only real politicians had such breakdowns! I highly recommend this movie, but leave your liberal / conservative bias' out of it! They will only cloud things up! This movie would be a fantastic double feature with WAG THE DOG! Enjoy... |
| Rating | | | Date | February 16, 2005 | | Summary | We're in real trouble | Content
| Bulworth is ostensibly Warren Beatty's brave political satire in which a conservative senator suddenly starts liberally voicing those opinions that the rest of us are supposed to be thinking but are afraid to say. He tells a black church congregation to, "Put away the malt liquor and fried chicken and stop supporting running backs that stab their wives." If that's what you were thinking, you'll love this movie.
Otherwise, Bulworth is jaw droppingly bad. To take such a hight position as to attack Beatty for suggesting that black characters need a white powerbroking partriarch to come to his senses before their concerns can be publicly considered is to give Bulworth way more credit than it deserves. It's distinguished from movies that are simply "bad" through its inclusion on the short list of truly dangerous ones. Not content to be racism hiding in plain site, Bulworth's racism is disguised as its own solution. Drug dealers have their transactions justified as the only commercial avenue open to otherwise well-intended African-American youths. Nina (Halle Berry) articulates an informed point, and it's a joke because attractive young black women look funny when they talk smart, like high-grammar versions of Zip Coon. In so doing, Beatty reminds black Americans that no matter what they accomplish, we know who they really are.
However limited the potential of the opening premise (Bulworth plans his own assassination for insurance purposes before inevitably changing his mind), the film never approaches the kind of Farley Brotheresque world that would have been its natural destination. The sincerity of the politician's catharsis is hidden from us, both because his new outlook is originally motivated only by the insurance scam and because once Beatty starts rapping his lines, he NEVER stops, making the actor (as opposed to the character) look uncomfortable for the duration. That this movie lured audiences and critics into its didactic spell is astonishing.
The film's ambition to be more than a cute little movie while being exactly the opposite reminds this reviewer of Roberto Benigni's embarrassing "Life is Beautiful" from the year before. Both have to be seen to be believed. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 11, 2005 | | Summary | Satire at its Best | Content
| Red state or blue state, if you have an open mind, you will enjoy this great satirical film. The laughs keep coming. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 17, 2004 | | Summary | Superb movie, lousy DVD. Where's Bulworth when you need him? | Content
| The importance and relevance of "Bulworth" has only grown after the 2000 and 2004 election results and all the hypocritical hoopla about "decency" in the media.
Jay Bulworth is a man who's willing to speak his mind, truly support humane and democratic progressive ideals, and be offensive to BOTH conservatives and many liberals.
Bulworth works both as a movie and the image of an ideal candidate because Warren Beatty didn't flinch from taking on sacred cows. He insults African Americans who blindly support OJ Simpson and need to "put down their chicken and malt liquor." He even goes after rich Hollywood Jewish producers. It is highly amusing that conservatives would hate this movie so much. Perhaps it is because Beatty has given us an example of a liberal who could actually win elections?
In a post 2004 election world Bulworth is a cathartic escape. Forget the slimy politicians of the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) or the blindly ideological liberal activist base who don't have a clue about electoral politics. Here's a man who states the truth and STILL supports progressive goals.
In one interview after Bulworth was released in theaters Beatty commented that the film had only one ending and nothing else was possible. Ultimately, the old adage: "the charismatic liberal leader will always be destroyed." Given the lack of heroic leadership within the Democratic Party it's hard to say if this the truth or not - we simply don't have any examples!
Bulworth will no doubt go down in history as one of the best politically progressive films ever made. Yes, it's that good. Not despite Beatty's old white man rapping persona - perhaps because of it.
While the film is destined to be a classic, this DVD is a severe disappointment. How could a movie with so much social and political importance have no DVD extras? There's not even a commentary track let alone a behind the scenes documentary! It's possible that the studios were simply trying to be as apolitical as possible. A recent re-release of "Three Kings" (another superb liberal film) excluded a documentary by director David Russell because it was supposedly too political. So perhaps the studios are willing to sell us these liberal movies. They just aren't willing to allow their makers to come forward and state their political views. Alas, it makes for a very poor DVD. |
|
Picture 01 (20)
