The Campaign, 2012.
Directed by Jay Roach.
Starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Katherine LaNasa, Sarah Baker, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd and Brian Cox.
SYNOPSIS:
Two corrupt businessmen hatch a plan to have a naive tourism director run against a controversial congressman vying for a fifth term.
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis go head to head in The Campaign. Ferrell stars as Cam Brady, a controversial congressman who wins in North Carolina every year because he runs unopposed. Tired of Brady winning every year, the Motch brothers (John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd) come up with a plan to have someone run against Brady who they can have control over. In comes Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), a well-mannered tour guide that doesn’t have a clue when it comes to politics. It’s a showdown between Brady and Huggins as hilarity ensues.
The Campaign works in some ways but fails in others, keeping it from being a really great comedy. With it being an election year this movie could have really benefited from having more satirical humor. There are a few moments that poke fun at the election process and the types of people who run but there just isn’t enough of it. Instead the movie tends to rely way too much on crude sexual humor for most of its laughs. I’m not saying crude humor can’t be funny but it shouldn’t be the basis of almost every joke. That being said there are plenty of jokes that work and a good few of them are laugh out loud moments.
Playing a huge part in making the movie worth watching are the comedic performances of Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Both are in top form here and really sell their characters. The scenes they have together are the best parts of the movie and watching them go head to head is a real treat. Other than the two stars, the supporting cast is somewhat hit and miss. Jason Sudeikis and Dylan McDermott are both great as Cam and Marty’s campaign managers and Sarah Baker is funny as Marty’s wife. John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd aren’t in the movie much and don’t really do a lot with their limited screen time; the same can be said for Brian Cox, who plays Marty’s dad.
Overall, The Campaign provides a good few laughs and has strong comedic performances from Ferrell and Galifianakis. It has a little too much crude humor but at only 85 minutes enough of the jokes work to make this one worth a watch.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Jake Peffer
Originally published November 25, 2012. Updated April 11, 2018.
