Bulworth (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Bulworth (1998) – W. Beatty

Although there are a few cringeworthy moments here (yes, Warren Beatty rapping), they might be deliberate – the point is to show how a sell-out democrat politician returns to his original values once he has contact with common people (in this case, the Black community in South Central L.A).  Of course, he can’t really identify but he can try to understand or empathise.  But let’s back up a moment.  The plot sees Beatty as incumbent California Senator Jay Billington Bulworth in the middle of his primary campaign for re-election but feeling despondent (it isn’t exactly clear why), despondent enough to hire a hitman to take himself out.  This act serves to free him to speak the truth to his constituents – mainly about the fact that big money (from corporate interests such as insurance companies and from wealthy donors) buys influence and that being poor does not.  I’m not sure whether this was shocking in 1998 but unfortunately it is still the norm in U. S. politics even now.  Perhaps people like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders or AOC now have enough of a platform to speak these same truths to a broader audience in a way that was more difficult when the media was all controlled by Rupert Murdoch (or other corporate interests) and censored views that they didn’t like (oh wait, that’s still the situation in Australia).  At any rate, Bulworth/Beatty goes a bit crazy from lack of sleep and other influences, speaks the truth in an out-of-role fashion (yes, rapping), garners widespread public support, falls in love with Halle Berry, and the cynical viewer knows what happens next (I won’t spoil the ending).  In reality, though, the “disruptor” role seems to have been adopted, not by the progressive left but instead by the wacko alt-right. Has the appeal of disruption (of a system clearly biased in favour of the rich) blinded people to the fact that the disruptors are not acting to support the poor and disenfranchised? In any event, Bulworth is watchable, mostly comic, surprisingly profane, and set to the sound of rap gold records – also brave and perhaps prescient.  Not perfect but worth a look.