When longtime California Senator Jay Billington Bulworth (Warren Beatty) finds himself in an uphill primary battle that forces him to mouth conservative platitudes in which he does not believe, he begins to slide toward a nervous breakdown.
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A former liberal activist, he now spends his days trading his votes on the Senate floor for big checks from the representative of the insurance lobby (Paul Sorvino). Finally, after almost a solid week without food or sleep, he snaps. Taking out a $10 million life insurance policy on himself, he arranges for a hit man to be sent to kill him.
Now, freed by the knowledge of his impending demise, the half-crazed Bulworth returns to California for the last leg of his campaign, shocking his campaign manager (Oliver Platt) by telling the unvarnished truth at a fundraiser full of entertainment moguls.
Dragging his aides to an after-hours club in Compton, Bulworth discovers a new-found love for rapping out rhyming rants against power and privilege and falls in love with Nina (Halle Berry), a young black woman with ties to a local gangster (Don Cheadle).
Now that Bulworth has found a reason to go on living, he must somehow stop the contract the on his life from being carried out. But not before he finishes speaking his mind to the people...
The review of this Movie prepared by James Craver
Senator Jay Bulworth of California (Beatty) is running for reelection in 1996. But he's sick of the whole process: sick of repeating the same tired cliches, sick of the money interests, sick of lying to his constituents, sick of life itself. He takes out a $10 million life insurance policy and names his 17-year-old daughter as sole beneficiary, then orders a hit on himself. With his own death looming in a few days, he suddenly feels free to speak the truth, so he sets out to shock everyone with it, offering racist and hate-filled speeches to the public and even doing some rap. Naturally this freaks out his coke-sniffing campaign manager (Platt). But Bulworth's life and campaign are revitalized, and he falls in love with a young black woman, Nina (Berry), from South Central LA and finds a reason to live after all. Naturally, powerful interests rise up against him. This bitter 1998 political satire, co-written and directed by its star, resembles the "take no prisoners" approach of "Network" and is sometimes too obvious, repetitive, and angry to work entirely well, but it was a huge and refreshing risk on the part of its creator.
The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
BULWORTH is a movie written and directed by Warren Beatty in 1998. Nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Senator Jay Bulworth is suicidal. A few days before the californian vote, he hires a contract out on his own life. From this moment on, life changes for him and for his electors. Bulworth decides to speak the truth : to the african american community, to the economical leaders, in fact to everybody. People adore his new image as Bulworth is speaking like a south L.A. rapper. He also soon falls in love with Halle Berry, a member of the african american community. Now, Bulworth doesn't want anymore to be killed and is desperately trying to cancel the contract. A tragi-comedy.
Simply the best american movie of 1998.
The review of this Movie prepared by Daniel Staebler
