Film Of The Week: Bulworth

Bulworth

A veteran Senate Democrat, Bulworth is losing his bid for re-election to a fiery young opponent. Bulworth's liberal views, formed in the 1960s and 1970s, have lost favor with voters, and so he has conceded to moderate politics and to accepting donations from special interests. In addition, though he and his wife (Christine Baranski) have been having affairs openly for years, they must still present a happy facade in the interest of maintaining a good public image.

While planning to commit suicide, Bulworth negotiates a $10 million life insurance policy with his daughter listed as the beneficiary in exchange for a favorable vote for the insurance industry. Tired with the state of affairs and politics in general, he then contracts to have himself assassinated within two days' time. Here, Bulworth takes a major turn, politically and personally. Knowing his time left on earth is short, he begins speaking his mind freely at public events and in the presence of the C-SPAN film crew following his campaign. His frank, potentially offensive remarks make him an instant media darling and re-energize his campaign. After becoming involved with Nina (Halle Berry), Bulworth tries to set his sordid political track-record straight while he is pursued by the paparazzi, his insurance company, his campaign managers, Nina's protective drug-dealing brother, and an increasingly adoring public, all before his impending assassination.

He soon discovers that Nina was given the hit contract but refused to carry out Bulworth's assassination. Bulworth happily accepts a new campaign for the presidency right before he is assassinated before a crowd of reporters and urban supporters by an insurance representative, fearful of Bulworth's push for socialized medicine. The ending scene shows a homeless man (Amiri Baraka) repeating one final time to the camera the maxim he proffered to the Senator near the film's beginning, "Bulworth, you got to be a spirit. You can't be no ghost."