Save the llama! Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton go to any length to control a Bolivian election in Our Brand Is Crisis trailer
By design, no one ever sees the people who engineer the publicity that can determine elections.
The trailer for a new movie, Our Brand Is Crisis, however, focuses on the machinations of two political operators - played by Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton - as they attempt to determine the outcome of the 2002 Bolivian presidential election.
For the 51-year-old actress' character, that outcome seems to hinge on publicity, the tears of a politician, and a llama with stage fright.
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New movie: Sandra Bullock is the star of the new trailer for her upcoming political dramedy, Our Brand Is Crisis
Sandra plays 'Calamity' Jane Bodine, a political and advertising consultant hired to run the campaign of Pedro Gallo, one of the two main candidates for the Bolivian presidency.
Comedy and drama both follow in a campaign that almost immediately becomes cutthroat and could eventually turn deadly.
'There's only one wrong in this! Only one wrong! And that is losing!' Jane screams at her Bolivian team before realizing that none of them speak English.
Co-star: In the film - which is based on the actual 2002 Bolivian presidential election - Billy Bob Thornton plays the opponent of Sandra's character
Tough woman: As 'Calamity' Jane Bodine, Sandra plays a tough woman with a history of influencing elections via marketing strategies
New client: One of Bolivia's main presidential candidates, Pedro Gallo (played by Joaquim de Almeida, right), hires Jane to run his campaign
Jane does have some success though, after she convinces Gallo (Joaquim de Almeida) to shed a tear during a televised interview.
Success is harder to find when Jane tries to film a television ad for Gallo and has to watch helplessly when the llama star of the commercial breaks free and runs into the street.
'It's like he killed himself rather than be in one of our commercials,' Jane tells a colleague in despair.
Challenge: Seen as being out of touch with the common people, Jane has to market Gallo to make him more appealing
Philosophy: Early in the trailer, Jane's battle cry that only losing is wrong comes in an impassioned speech
Small problem: Unfortunately, none of Jane's Bolivian staffers speak enough English to understand
Tearful triumph: One of Jane's strategies to make Gallo more relatable involves getting him to cry on TV
Response: The team immediately sees victory and the polls soon reflect an increase in popularity
Growing support: Instead of being the loser, Gallo becomes the front-runner - although the cost might be high
Since she is opposed at every step by her opposition counterpart, Pat Candy (played by Billy Bob), those victories involve constant fighting.
There could be negative consequences to this: 'If you fight with monsters for too long, you become a monster,' Candy informs Jane at one point.
Sacrifice: Jane does suffer a setback when a llama expected to star in Gallo's new ad runs away, only to be hit by a car outside the studio
Gallows humour: 'It's like he killed himself rather than be in one of our commercials,' Jane remarks to a colleague about the llama
Monsters: As Billy Bob's character of Pat Candy (right) informs Jane, her long dealings with monstrous people is likely to rub off on her
Protests and controversy seem to escalate later in the trailer, indicating that Jane's actions might indeed have monstrous consequences.
The darker themes hinted in this part of the trailer may tease at the real-world situation that inspired Our Brand Is Crisis.
Deal with the devil: As Jane's success propels Gallo to victory, she needs to face the consequences
Discontent: Mounting protests and other problems reveal that the situation is unstable
In 2005, Rachel Boynton's documentary of the same name revealed the marketing strategies employed by the firm of Greenberg Carville Shrum in the Bolivian election.
Thanks to winning candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's later deadly response to protests among the Bolivian population, the campaign itself had human-rights implications.
Directed by David Gordon Green and produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Our Brand Is Crisis will be released on October 30.
Reality: Our Brand Is Crisis is based on a 2005 documentary that chronicled the real-life effect of American marketing on the 2002 Bolivian election
Bad result: The man represented by Gallo in the new film, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lovada, was eventually removed from power after deadly reprisals against protesters
Powerful backers: The new movie was produced by the Oscar-winning team of George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Coming soon: Our Brand Is Crisis will premiere in the US on October 30
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