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 mus... Read allA 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.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.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 20 nominations total
- Leroy
- (as Ernie Banks)
Featured reviews
Since it would be way too preachy if that's all there was to the story, there's some other aspects that make for an entertaining viewing. Bulworth, in his depression and anxiety, hired a hit-man to "off" him so his family could collect the life insurance. Once his speeches and raps become a success, this is obviously a big problem since he wants to live again ("You should never make life and death situations when feeling suicidal"). There is a love interest with a girl named Nina, played by the lovely Halle Berry. You don't know if you can trust her, and her intentions are unclear.
There is also a fine supporting role by Don Cheadle, who plays a "business man" who uses young children to sell drugs. His character does bring up some valid points, and we're forced to really put ourselves in his shoes. He's doing what he feels is right, but ultimately, the ends don't justify his means.
With a movie that has so much going on, it would probably be difficult for the filmmakers to figure out a way to wrap everything up, right? Unfortunately, yes. Bulworth ends pretty abruptly and leaves with the film's message being half-assedly shouted at the screen. The last act is a huge flaw in an otherwise perfect movie.
Bulworth is a hilarious comedy and it heralds something truly special and unique. It is not a film to be taken for granted or forgotten. It's a quintessential example of a 'contemporary classic' for our generation. I have no doubt that over the next decade or so, people will want to revisit it and examine the politics and the cultures; it should be studied in classrooms, it should be valued. I loved Bulworth!
My rating: 9/10
J. Billington Bulworth, Democratic Senator from California at one time rising liberal star has had to tack mighty heavily to the right in order to keep his office. Even at doing that he's facing a heavily financed rightwing opponent.
With defeat staring him in the face and no home life so to speak with both he and his wife pursuing the opposite sex, Bulworth just decides to chuck it all. His friends in the insurance industry are writing him one whopping life insurance policy and Bulworth hires a hit man to do him in.
Of course no with nothing to lose our U.S. Senator who before mouthed the political platitudes and nostrums we get from our elected officials at voting time, now starts telling some uncomfortable truths. Lack of sleep and some controlled substances produce a rapping U.S. Senator who along the way picks up some black groupie types with Halle Berry. The consequences of all these hijinks you'll have to watch Bulworth for.
One friend has compared it Network and there are certainly some similarities. I think Bulworth should be seen back to back with Robert Redford's The Candidate. If you'll remember Redford was the idealistic liberal who trimmed his sails through the advice of his hired spin doctors and got himself elected U.S. Senator from California. His Bill MacKay was wondering what he does then at the end of that film. I think Bulworth provides some answers as to a possible direction MacKay might have taken.
Warren Beatty wrote a witty script and a mean rap. Director Beatty gets some good performances by his cast and best in the supporting cast is his aide Oliver Platt who sees his whole career going down the tubes. There's a peculiar symbiotic relationship between Capitol Hill staffers and their bosses. They serve at the pleasure of, but at the same time a good one can make himself pretty valuable to his boss. Platt's such a guy, his character is quite authentic.
Remember watch Bulworth back to back with The Candidate.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Warren Beatty wrote, produced, directed and stars in this political satire about Sentaor Bulworth who days before the election puts a hit out on his own life due to his depression. He eventually has a mental breakdown and goes on a round of interviews where he decides to tell the truth about America and politics. BULWORTH was pretty controversial when it was first released and it seemed like the studio didn't want anyone to know it was out but I remember feeling it was an incredibly fresh and rather honest movie. Seeing it all these years later it's rather amazing to see how relevant it remains in both its message and look at politics. I think you have to give Beatty all the credit in the world for doing a film like this because you know so many people would be offended by it. It is rather strange to see so many people getting upset over a movie so can you imagine the outrage if a Senator really did do this stuff? The film certainly works because Beatty's performance is just so great and believable. Seeing someone like Beatty rap, dress gangster and being put in all of these situations is just downright hilarious. The scenes inside the black church where he talks honestly about everything from liquor to O.J. Simpson is just priceless but so are various other rants that he goes on. People get up in arms about what's being said but if you actually listen to it the film has a very good message. The supporting players are just as good as Oliver Platt, Halle Berry, Sean Astin, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino and Jack Warden all deliver fine performances. The screenplay certainly hits on all the topics it wants to speak on, although the one flaw is that the film does drag on a bit and some things begin to be repeated. Still, BULWORTH is a very sharp and very funny look at politics and Beatty really does give it his all.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAaron Sorkin and James Toback did a great deal of uncredited work on the script.
- GoofsBulworth tells the assassin that he will be traveling to Los Angeles via American Airlines, yet the arrival airplane footage shown is clearly a Southwest Airline plane.
- Quotes
Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth: Obscenity? The rich is getting richer and richer and richer while the middle class is getting more poor/ Making billions and billions and billions of bucks/ well my friend if you weren't already rich at the start well that situation just sucks/cause the riches mother fucker in five of us is getting ninety fuckin eight percent of it/ and every other motherfucker in the world is left to wonder where the fuck we went with it/ Obscenity?/ I'm a Senator/ I gotta raise $10,000 a day every day I'm in Washington/ I ain't getting it in South Central/ I'm gettin it in Beverly Hills/ So I'm votin from them in the Senate the way they want me too/ and-and-and I'm sending them my bills/ But we got babies in South Central dying as young as they do in Peru/ We got public schools that are nightmares/ We got a Congress that ain't got a clue/We got kids with submachine guns/ We got militias throwing bombs/ We got Bill just gettin all weepy/ We got Newt blaming teenage moms/We got factories closing down/ Where the hell did all the good jobs go? Well, I'll tell you where they went/My contributors make more profits makin, makin, makin, Hirin' kids in Mexico/ Oh a brother can work in fast food/ If he can't invent computer games/ But what we used to call America/ That's going down the drains/How's a young man gonna meet his financial responsibilities workin and motherfuckin Burger King? He ain't! And please don't even start with that school shit/ There aint no education going on up in that motherfucker/ Obscenity? We got a million brothers in prison/ I mean, the walls are really rockin/But you can bet your ass they'd all be out/If they could pay for Johnny Cochran/ The constitution is supposed to give them an equal chance/ Well, that ain't gonna happen for sure/ Ain't it time to take a little from the rich motherfucker and give a little to the poor? I mean, those boys over there on the monitor/ they want a government smaller and weak/ but the be speakin for the riches 20 percent when they pretend they're defendin the meek/ Now, shit, fuck, cocksuker, that's the real obscenity/ Black folks livin with every day/ Trying to believe a mothefuckin word Democrats and Republicans say/ Obscenity? I'm Jay Billington Bulworth And I've come to say/ The Democratic party's got some shit to pay/ It's gonna pay it in the ghetto/ It's gonna pay it in the...
[talks a little]
Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth: You know the guy in the booth who's talking to you in that tiny little earphone? He's afraid the guys at network are gonna tell him that he's through/ If he lets a guy keep talking like I'm talking to you/ Cause the corporations got the networks and they get to say who gets to talk about the country and who's crazy today/ I would cut to a commercial if you still want this job/ Because you may not be back tomorrow with this cooperate mob/Cut to commercial, cut to commercial, cut to commercial. Ok ok I got a simple question that I'd like to ask of this network/ That pays you for performing this task/ How come they got the airwaves? They're the peoples aren't they? Wouldn't they be worth 70 billion to the public today? If some money-grubbin Congress didn't give them away for big campaign money? It's hopeless you see/ If you're runnin for office with out no TV/If you don't get big money/ You get a defeat/ Corporations and broadcasters make you dead meat/ You been taught in this country there's speech that is free/ But free don't get you no spots on TV/If you want to have senators not on the take/ Then give them free air time/ They won't have to fake/ Telecommunications is the name of the beast/that, that, that, that, that's eating up the world from the west to the east/ The movies, the tabloids, TV and magazines/ they tell us what to think and do/ And all our hopes and dreams/ All this information makes America phat/ But if the company's outta the country/ How American is that? But we got Americans with families that can't even buy a meal/ Ask a brother who's been downsized if he's getting any deal/ Or a white boy bustin ass til they put him in his grave/ He ain't gotta be a black boy to be livin like a slave/ Rich people have always stayed on top by dividing white people from colored people/ but white people got more in common with colored people then they do with rich people/ we just gotta eliminate them. White people, black people, brown people, yellow people, get rid of 'em all/ All we need is a voluntary, free spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction/ Everybody just gotta keep fuckin' everybody til they're all the same color
- Crazy creditsFor the song "Bulworth Breakdown," the title character Jay Bulworth is credited as a writer and performer.
- SoundtracksSemper Fidelis
Composed by John Philip Sousa
Performed by The Band of the Grenadier Guards
Conducted by Major Rodney Bashford
Courtesy of The Decca Record Company Limited/London Records
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music
- How long is Bulworth?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $26,528,185
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $141,816
- May 17, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $29,202,884
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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