Otherwise, Bulworth is a pretty funny movie, though it features politics that are too far to the left even for me. No New Democrats here, just an old-time liberal Senator (Beatty) who suddenly realizes he's left behind his radical liberal roots in favor of money-grubbing corporate scum. After days without sleep or food, he kind of goes nuts and, as you've all seen in the ads, starts speaking the truth and hanging with the homeboys. And girls, mainly represented by a sullen and single-dimensional Halle Berry who unaccountably falls for the wrinkled old coot.
The standout performance comes from Oliver Platt as Bulworth's high-strung chief of staff, Murphy. Keep your eyes on his mugging reactions to Bulworth's outbursts. I just love Platt, though he rarely gets roles worthy of his talents (for his best work, rent Funny Bones). He's rapidly shooting up the charts to Spaceyian coolness in my book.
"Bulworth" works best if you look at it as a fairy tale, a fable born from overwhelming white male liberal guilt, as the establishment guy who's climbed to success by stepping on the heads of the less privileged does a noble about-face -- and gets a hot young babe in the bargain. I can see the sequel now: Bulworth Goes Native, in which Beatty hits South Dakota after three sleepless days of driving, picks up a feathered, nubile Lakota lass at Wounded Knee, connects with the earth through a series of mystical dances (this would give his sister Shirley McLaine a chance for a cameo), and subsequently sponsors a bill to return the Black Hills to the Sioux. (Actually, this kind of happened with Bill Bradley, though as far as I know, it was basketball and not nubile lasses which got his attention, and Shirley McLaine was not involved.)
Two major complaints: 1) the penultimate scene, in which Bulworth is practically equated with Martin Luther King, Jr., and 2) a tedious and pretentious plot device in the form of a cryptic homeless man. Get over yourself, Warren. And speaking of getting over yourself, somebody pass some legislation NOW to keep Larry King from ever appearing in a movie again. Or on TV, while we're at it.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed this film, though at times I found it pretty patronizing and hypocritical. But it's funny, and by far the best of the recent trio of political satires.
And, to close, a joke from Jay Leno:
Here's how you can tell if a movie is bad: The other night I went to Blockbuster and rented The Postman. When I asked the clerk when it was due back, he said, "Don't bother."
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