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movie review - Bullworth

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 1999.04.22

Beatty plays a burnout politician who's exhausted his ability to stay afloat in the sea of hypocrisy, compromise, and bribery that his career has become. After losing his shirt over a bad deal involving pork bellies on the Hong Kong exchange, he decides to scrape up the fee for an assassin and have himself killed. He carefully arranges a deal with an insurance lobbyist in his daughter's name, then goes on a three-day spree of telling the truth on the campaign circuit.

On the road to actually getting plugged at the end of the film, he takes vague, cliched shots at the establishment, sounding like a cereal-box Nome Chomsky. It's amusing, but not terribly well done. Beatty's rap is often cringingly bad, but it's good to see that he's got the sense of humor to write and deliver the stuff.

Not recommended.

rand()m quote

A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to finally feel its warmth.

—African proverb