The Campaign
User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 130 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 130
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 130
  3. Negative: 16 out of 130

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  1. William28
    Aug 13, 2012
    1
    This movie could have been so good BUT it really wasn't! Galifinakis was the only funny spot but the really getting very predictable and old Will Ferrel vulgar slapstick never landed. Had so much potential if you could have let the comedy work for itself instead of some need to make it feel like a Saturday Night Live Skit that would never end.
  2. OneManCrowd
    Aug 10, 2012
    4
    Going into the theater, I was expecting quite a bit from this film. Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis appeared to be an excellent comedic pair, seeing as they were both incredibly funny actors. I was, unfortunately, let down, as I watched carbon copies of Ferrell
  3. hoops2448
    Oct 20, 2012
    4
    The Campaign follows a race for a North Carolina congressional district between incumbent Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) and newcomer Marty Huggins (Zach Galifinakis) and in most ways its very similar to another Gary Sanchez production, The Other Guys. Much like The Other Guys, The Campaign is a wildly absurd take on a much needed system. In The Other Guys it was the police force. In The Campaign its local politics. However unlike The Other Guys, The Campaign tries much too hard getting its audience to laugh as it resorts to played out scenarios like adultery and swearing rants (although they are slightly elevated in quality due to Will Ferrell's ability as a performer). The Campaign has many good singular gags, a few touching moments and some actual character but its mostly drowned out by an its downfalls. Many of the jokes fail to land and Zach Galifinakis' Marty Huggins may be one of the most annoying movie characters around. It's a film that tries desperately to be liked and never really strives to be original and because of that it is more irritating than entertaining… Expand
  4. Super8mm
    Aug 27, 2012
    4
    I have to say that this movie was a disappointment. Zach Galifianakis at no point in the movie was funny. Will Ferrell carried this movie to the end. This movie had great potential to be hilarious. I have to admit that there were some points in the movie that were funny but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who had a low sense of humor and doesn't enjoy potty mouth language. I would not see this movie again. I'm not even sure if it was worth seeing one time.… Expand
  5. Spazzzh20
    Aug 19, 2012
    4
    Quick review. The campaign is as mindless as it gets. This could be a good thing if done rite, but in the hands of this director it was just a lazily slapped together farce. The humor is dry and would be better suited for a Saturday night live skit much less an actual film. It's so dry and void of any real substance or threat that it's almost as if the writers had no clue how life and family works. In one scene one of the main characters wife's cheats on him, then she tries to make him feel bad saying that he's never around. **** you cheated on him don't make him out to be the bad guy.
    At the end of the day the campaign is a lazily put together piece of film that is neither to in depth to be taken seriously, and lacks anywhere near enough humor to be considered mindless fun.    … Expand
  6. Briancl25
    Sep 28, 2012
    4
    There are funny parts in this movie, but like all comedy movies they over stay their welcome. About half way through you will be bored because instead of being a comedy, it turns into a drama, and a bad one at that. It is fun to see them making fun of how ridiculous campaigns get.
  7. alsukes
    Sep 8, 2012
    2
    Check out this review of The Campaign: I wasn't very kind to the film because I just didn't like it. http://mostrecentlywatched.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/thecampaign
  8. Seriosity
    Nov 4, 2012
    4
    The humor is hit-or-miss, but mostly stale. It is fairly passable entertainment until it develops a conscious and gets very dull, very quickly. Sharp satire, this is not.
  9. ExKing
    May 4, 2013
    3
    the funniest thing about this movie is the fact that it is 1 and a half hour long but it feels like 3 hours...oh wait that's not funny.
    i don't know much about the American politics but i do understand that there is a message behind this movie however i don't think that the message has been delivered correctly with these stupid characters and silly jokes and stupid events i didn't laugh     at all in this so called comedy movie.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 35
  3. Negative: 5 out of 35
  1. Empire
    Reviewed by: Simon Braund
    Sep 24, 2012
    60
    The Campaign gets by on its stars' comic compatibility and a relentless stream of jokes, many of which are laugh-out-loud funny. The only real downer is the ending, which feels tacked on like a hanging chad.
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  2. Total Film
    Reviewed by: Ken McIntyre
    Sep 1, 2012
    60
    Although only slightly more outrageous than reality, The Campaign is a funny, pacy peek behind the political curtain.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    Aug 12, 2012
    50
    Roach is too stiff a director to give Ferrell room to romp. Bits like the one in which he's challenged to recite "The Lord's Prayer" needed extra zigs and zags instead of variations on the same joke. A looser director like Adam McKay (Step Brothers) might have created a happier climate for improv.
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