The film that dares to ask: will you buy Sandra Bullock as a borderline, ball-busting political strategist? To bring down your asking price, the film takes her south of the border, where everything is portrayed as cheaper: the cynicism, the political strategizing, the despair, and even the redemption. At least in Bolivia, concrete things like bus tours, factory visits, and flyers might still make a difference, so director David Gordon Green (Manglehorn) has something to film besides campaign meetings and silly commercials. (That said, there are plenty of campaign meetings and silly commercials, and the bus tour serves as the excuse for a spectacularly dumb chase scene along a windy mountain road.) If everything was nastier, it might have made for a decent black comedy. If something was more heartfelt, it might have made for a decent personal drama. But in both the movie and the campaign it depicts, cleverness is the order of the day. And cleverness doesn't inspire allegiance. Or emotion. With Billy Bob Thornton as the (not so) bad guy. (2015) — Matthew Lickona