Bulworth

Senator Bulworth breaks down in the middle of his re-election campaign. He cannot sleep or eat, and arranges his own killing in exchange for an insurance policy. Believing he has days left, he starts telling the truth at rallies: where the campaign money comes from, what the insurance companies do, and how his own party treats Black voters. The more he says, the more popular he becomes. The subject is not politics but honesty being available only to those prepared to die. That is the idea the film rests on, and for the first half hour it really does cut. The form sits between comedy and satire and the tone loses its balance. The passages in which Bulworth starts rapping are its most argued-over element; some found them brave and some embarrassing, and the split persists. A white senator using Black culture this way is the film's weakest point. The production was Warren Beatty's: he wrote, directed, produced and starred. It did not do well at the box office but was cited for years in political argument for what it says about campaign finance. Halle Berry plays a campaign worker and Oliver Platt an adviser. Who it is for: viewers who like political satire and nineties American cinema. Who it is not for: anyone troubled by the film's racial representation; the objection is common and fair.