The Campaign | Review
After the utter disappointment of ‘The Watch‘ it’s up to Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis to save the summer from ending laughless. At a lean 85-minute running time ‘The Campaign’ is considerably shorter than previous (and better) comedies of the year, like ’21 Jump Street’ and ‘Ted’, but this short length works in the film’s favor. The film doesn’t sag and there are no boring moments. The comedic chops of its two leads help make the film zoom throughout its duration, and there are a lot of laughs to be had.
Ferrell plays Cam Brady, the four-term congressmen of North Carolina who’s looking towards a promised fifth term since no one else wants the job. After a messy scandal Brady loses the support of his most important political backers, The Motch Brothers (played by John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd). The Brothers simply want a candidate they can control so they can “insource” Chinese factory workers and basically sell the district to China for a huge profit. They find a potential candidate in Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), the district’s tourism director and famed goofball. As scandal-ridden as Brady is – and there’s a lot – it seems unlikely that the sweet, effeminate, and insecure Huggins would be able to defeat the long-running congressman. However, with the help of the Motch Brothers and a tough campaign manager (played by Dylan McDermott) Huggins surprises everyone when he quickly becomes a formidable opponent to Cam Brady.
Instead of being a straight up satirical take on politics, which could have easily failed, the film only uses politics as its backdrop; politics is not the main issue here (except for the fact that The Motch Brothers are obvious stand-ins for The Koch Brothers). The film is really about two ridiculous individuals doing everything in their power to make the other look terrible in the eyes of the public and eventually win the election for themselves. And you know what? I don’t mind there’s no underlying political message. The film benefits from the hilarity that ensues between Ferrell and Galifianakis’ crazy antics – and it’s even better that the two have wonderful comedic chemistry.
‘The Campaign’ doesn’t try to be believable at all. The scandals, attack ads, and everything in between that involves Brady and Huggins definitely wouldn’t be tolerated in the real world, which makes it funnier. In fact, television personalities like Wolf Blitzer, Piers Morgan, and several other commentators appear as themselves in the film and they’re just as surprised by the ridiculousness of the candidates.
As straightforward and funny as the film is, there are some minor gripes. Ferrell, Galifianakis, McDermott, and heck, even an Asian maid all have their shining moments, yet for some reason the talented Jason Sudeikis is left with barely anything to do. We’ve seen him be funny on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and last year’s hit ‘Horrible Bosses‘, yet Sudeikis is left with a bland role as Cam Brady’s straight-laced campaign manager. The film’s final act is underwhelming, especially after seeing everything that’s come before it. It settles for a happy ending that’s nice but not all that funny. With all the crazy antics the film provides it should have had a conclusion with more of an impact.
I really didn’t expect much of ‘The Campaign’, which is why I was so thoroughly surprised at how much I enjoyed the film. There are plenty of lesser comedies that rely on foul-mouthed humor, and they usually don’t work, but Will Ferrell really knows how to utilize that type of humor and make it work. Also, the physical humor in the film is hilarious. Even though it was advertised in the film’s trailers, seeing a baby get punched in the face is still laugh-out-loud funny – as terrible as that may sound.
Three out of four Kents.
Extra Notes:
The film was directed by Jay Roach, who previously directed HBO political dramas like ‘Recount’ and ‘Game Change’. His other directing credits include the ‘Austin Powers’ films and ‘Meet the Parents’.
The first cut of the film was over 3 hours long. It’d be interesting to see the hour and a half worth of footage that was left on the cutting room floor.
