This is a weird movie. It’s weird because the tone is all over the place. There’s comedy that’s sometimes pretty good, other times falls pretty flat. There’s moments of ultra-serious drama that are sometimes believable, other times just out of place. And there’s a political message film hiding somewhere deep down that comes out of the blue with heavy-handed platitudes and messages in the final minutes.
Sandra Bullock has a ton of charisma as usual and frankly, her and Billy Bob Thornton save a lot of the film that would be much less interesting without them. But Bullock is playing such an odd character, with emotional swings, unclear motivations, and drastic focus changes that I had trouble following it while still enjoying her performance at the same time. The supporting cast doesn’t get much to do and for all the greatness of Bullock and Thornton, the writing lets them down by not giving them a single enduring exchange. That’s not to say it’s a bad film. It just came off as weird and I couldn’t really figure out the tone or overall point by the end. If you like political dramas with oddball comedy or if you just like Thornton and/or Bullock, this does the job.