The Campaign
When long-term congressman Cam Brady commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naive Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors’ support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family’s political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As Election Day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other. Because even when you think campaign ethics have hit rock bottom, there’s room to dig a lot deeper.
In Theaters: August 10, 2012; MPAA Rating: R (for crude sexual content, language and brief nudity); Genres: Comedy; Run Time: 1 hour 37 minutes
Director: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Katherine LaNasa, Sarah Baker, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, Kate Lang Johnson, John Lithgow, Thomas Middleditch, Dan Aykroyd
Actors: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Katherine LaNasa, Sarah Baker, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, Kate Lang Johnson, John Lithgow, Thomas Middleditch, Dan Aykroyd
Writers: Chris Henchy, Shawn Harwell
Lay and me went to see this film last night at Westshore. I was a little surprised he wanted to see it, but he generally likes movies with Zach Galifianakis, as do I. Fun fact, Galifianakis was born in North Carolina. The story is based in a North Carolina Congressional district, supposedly in the eastern part of the state.
Will Ferrel plays Cam Brady, the incumbent congressman, who has never lost a race because he’s never had to run against someone. That changes when two CEO’s (played by John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd clearly spoofing the Kock brothers) hatch a scheme that involves buying the election for Marty Huggins, the Galifianakis character.
As noted, we both like Galifianakis. Will Ferrell plays pretty much the same character in every film, but if that character fits the film, and the jokes are well written, it usually makes for a fun experience.
The writing was pretty good, and there were several excellent “laugh out loud” gags in the film. Arguably two of the funniest film comedians working today in one film that lampoons politics in a very timely release year should equal great comedy gold, so I was hoping for more. In the end though, they got the message across, and the scary part of the movie is that it comes very close to not being a spoof of today’s elections, but a documentary of some of the our elections.
The two funny men play well against each other and the supporting characters do well
Will Ferrell is in full on jerk mode here, there is nothing he won’t do to win this race. Ferrell has been in the game for a long time and Zach Galifianakis, while having been around for a while has only gotten to be in the spotlight in recent years due to the success of The Hangover. So at times it seems like Ferrell “teaching” Galifianakis, the “new guy” and the two of them battling it out to be funnier. That was more entertaining than the film itself.
Dylan McDermott has a small role as a campaign manager and he does great in the role. He’s got an attitude and he tries to shape of Marty Higgins to look the part, looking the part involves getting “american” dogs, having a Bible and a giant picture of an eagle above a fireplace.
Because of just how close this movies chronicles how over-the-top stupid our elections have become, it’s worth watching. There are a few good knee-slappers in here.
(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
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