Amazon.com essential video

Jay Bulworth is your typical senator going through a nervous breakdown. The empty speeches, lies, money, and pressure have led him to plan his own assassination on a weekend trip home to California just before the election. However, a cord snaps in him and like Jim Carrey's rambling lawyer in Liar, Liar, Bulworth can only tell the truth. This new freedom turns Bulworth on and he spews the ugly truth about politics: he tells mass media they are as corrupt as insurance companies; lambastes a black church for not having leaders; and riles the Jewish power elite of Hollywood. He enters South Central running away from advisors (including a bemused Oliver Platt) and mixing it up with a potential new girlfriend (Halle Berry) and a local boss (Don Cheadle). He offends acrossthe board, even developing an inherent knack to rap his speeches. And the public loves it. The weekend becomes a clarifying point for Bulworth: he finds a reason to live.

Beatty's rude and relevant comedy is a one-joke movie, but the joke is pretty good. It's a courageous film that is always sharp even though it loses narrative focus. Beatty's hilarious raps are so inspired they deserve repeated viewings. As usual, Beatty surrounds himself with a great crew, Ennio Morricone's music and Vittorio Storaro's cinematography being especially noteworthy. Beatty and Storaro even have the audacity to imitate two very famous photographs in the film's final seconds. The script by Beatty and Jeremy Pikser won the L.A. Film Critics award and was nominated for an Oscar. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (131)

A sincere movie with no target demographic.
A politician has nothing left to lose -- so why not speak the truth? Warren Beatty's Senator Jay Bulworth lays down the smack: the reason the working man (in this movie, the working class is cleverly disguised as hip-hop mavens) doesn't have a voice, is he doesn't have the sway or monetary bullocks to *buy* a voice. Words aren't worth a penny unless you're worth billions. And of course, from the first instant, this divine fool's failure is certain and imminent: Big Business, what with its grimy fingers perpetually immersed in the U.S. Government's proverbial tub of crunchy Jif, would never allow a politician like Bulworth to succeed, at the risk of the working class' newfound capacity to leech the power from the insurance companies and tire manufacturers.

But here's the best part: this poor movie didn't stand a chance of finding a target demographic, just as we know from the first instant Bulworth doesn't stand a chance, either. The movie's occasionally bawdy humor is poised to captivate, paradoxically, *my* demographic (19-year olds who appreciate taboos about racial tension), while its sad, sad message is better suited to working class families who "get it," rather than to, say, people who rent movies all the time, or play the stock market, or capitalize on apathy. In that respect, Bulworth is a sad story, indeed.

Original, daring, and funny, one of the best movies ever.
Here is a movie that you will either love or hate but it certainly won't leave you indifferent.If you dislike Bulworth you most likely either can't stomach the film's left-wing political ideology or you find some aspect of the film offensive.But the willingness of the film to offend is the very thing that makes it so compelling to others.If you don't hate the movie for the above reasons you'll be able to appreciate the just how risky and original this movie is.As Bulworth campaigns,offending everyone and their mother while telling it like it is,you can't help but share in his giddy exhileration and you'll laugh your behind off at the same time.This is the essential theme of the movie and,just to keep things livly,Beatty introduces a variation as Bulworth begins to rap.On these scenes alone the film succeeds as a comedy though there are other very funny scenes(often involving Bulworth's campaign aids).Generaly I'm not a fan of rap but the film's music sets the tone nicely. The cast is universaly excellent,everyone seems to fit their part perfectly and Nina (Halle Berry) looks absolutely gorgeous.At one point, Bulworth is dancing with Nina in a Compton after hours club and,to roughly quote an internet reviewer,"this must be the most erotic scene involving two vertical people in all of cinima."What works in Bulworth works so well that the holes and improbableties inherent in the storyline seem beside the point.They certainly don't detract from the overall effect of the movie.I'm every bit as liberal a Warren Beatty and there is no doubt that your politics play a role in how you respond to the movie but I recomend this movie to everyone,you just might find it enligtening.

What were they thinking?
What were they thinking? Nevermind, it's actually pretty obvious.

Far from being the deft parody of modern civics that the producers obviously intended, this is an extremely silly movie that trivializes major problems, and frequently borders on being racist, classist, and anti-semitic.

One problem is that this was Warren Beatty's attempt at being "hip" and reaching out to a whole new generation. Well, I'm part of that generation and let me tell you that it just came out as being creepy and pathetic. Warren Beatty and Halley Berry? "Ew" on so many different levels. Warren Beatty being accepted as some sort of "brothah"? You've got to be kidding me. Warren Beatty rapping? Please, just kill me.

The other problem is that this movie attempts to address "problems" in a way that does nothing but rehash old stereotypes. This "inner city" was obviously dreamed up by an elderly woman from the midwest who has never actually met a black person, but has read books where she learned that some of them have hearts of gold and everyone else is a dangerous criminal intent on selling crack to five year olds.

There is a definate generation gap in who likes this movie and who does not. The young, socially aware people that I know think that this movie is paternalistic, insulting, and stupid: and that Warren Beatty should just deal with the fact that he is no longer Hollywood's #1 Heart-throb. My parents and their friends thought it was great and that Warren still has his old spark. Though even they admited that Warren and Halley was pretty "ew."

racist, socialist nonsense
This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Beatty, a wealthy playboy, tries to paint all whites as willingly racist and stepping on the poor, while at the same time demonstrating anti-semitism. Nice divisive garbage, Beatty. Not funny. Not relevant or at all honest.

Ghetto Senator
This movie is about a Senator who gets fed up with lying to the people. However it is a movie that is a matter of taste. If you are sensitive regarding racial issues this is certainly not the picture for you. If you like racially laced humor and politics you will probably like this movie, if not fall in love with it. Warren Beatty is excellent in his role as senator Bulworth and Oliver Platt is a riot as Bulworth's campaign manager. Halle Berry is still the most beautiful women in the world...showing that she can make even a totally straight laced senator turn ghetto. It's got it's ups and downs and craziness...some humor and even some surprises. I thought the ending was somewhat surprising. ... Read more