Bulworth

This late-nineties touchstone—Warren Beatty’s first film since 1990’s Dick Tracy—unexpectedly yet profoundly speaks to the political climate of 2016. Beatty himself stars as Senator Jay Bulworth, a Democrat from California whose leftist convictions have slowly eroded and given way to corporate and right-wing pandering; losing to a brash young populist in a reelection bid, he becomes suicidal—but when he throws caution to the wind and gets brutally, recklessly frank on the stump, he becomes a media sensation and finds himself linked with an activist (Halle Berry), with whispers of assassination attempts lingering in the air. Beatty’s masterful satire offers a delightfully cynical perspective on mainstream politics, with Steadicam shots that slice through flashbulb-drenched hallways and around the bodies of lobbyists, paparazzi, journalists, and reinvigorated supporters.