SummaryWhen 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: naïve Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible ch...
SummaryWhen 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: naïve Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible ch...
Definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Very, very funny. Don't know why there is such a low rating. Definitely worth the $10. I don't post many reviews on this website but for this movie I had to. It's awesome. People with a low intelligence won't really like this movie as much though or find it as funny.
This movie was quite a pleasant surprise for me, going into knowing that it stared notorious comedians Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis I feared that it would be hyper focused on making me laugh. Well, it did make me laugh - quite a bit - but it also asked some thought evoking questions. The amount of substance in this movie was quite an unexpected addition to the healthy amount of silly "potty" jokes. After watching The Campaign I was left feeling that Galifianakis and Ferrell didn't just make this movie to make a paycheck, it seemed as though they were hiding behind their funny-guy exteriors and expressing dissatisfaction with the state of the union. All in all I can't recommend this movie enough.
The jokes never go deep, the toothless bites at the system leave no marks. It's only the wild-card energy of Ferrell and Galifianakis that keeps you on the ticket.
Ferrell and Galifianakis both do what they've proven they can do so well in the past, while McDermott, clad in all black, is surprisingly good in a comedic role.
It's just another happily idiotic Will Ferrell comedy, ably directed by Jay Roach ("Meet the Parents," "Dinner for Schmucks") and tossing its bawdy jokes at the side of the barn.
The Campaign is insidiously stupid, a laugh-free water balloon lazily tossed at the institution of politics, and one that makes "Semi-Pro" look like a lost Robert Altman film.
When I saw the general "meh" reaction for this movie when it came out, I assumed it'd just be some cheap, half-hearted, desperate political satire flick that'd become dated as soon as the 2012 election ends. Fortunately I was wrong. VERY wrong. Not only is The Campaign hilarious, but it also mocks many problems in the world of big-time politics in a way that's exaggerated, but still pretty accurate. Now I'll go a little more in depth. First of all this movie was casted pretty much perfectly. Will Ferrell of course is very experienced in the world of political satire, mainly thanks to his many years on SNL, and does an equally great job as Cam Brady, the incumbent, an egotistical jerk who has succumbed to all the temptations of political fame and knows how to give the people what they want in the most shallow yet effective way possible. You can tell that his performance is drawn slightly from a combination of his George W. Bush impression on SNL and Ron Burgandy in Anchorman, but it's more of a similar overall vibe than a blatant copy. Zach Galifinakis also does a great job as Marty Huggins, the newcoming candidate, a timid family man whose motivations are much more authentic and noble, but soon succumbs to some of said temptations later in the movie, albeit with regret. Other notable performances include Dylan McDermott as Tim Watley, Huggins' shady campaign manager, and Karen Maruyama as Mrs. Yao, Huggins' father's housekeeper who provides some of the most unexpectedly funny lines in the whole movie. One thing to note about The Campaign is that most of the comedy isn't exactly high class stuff, but it's done in the most hilarious way possible. Case in point: the Huggles' "family dinner confessions" scene, which I just wanted to go on as long as possible. And of course the political satire is spot-on, tackling all kinds of evil or just plain stupid things that have sadly become commonplace in big-time politics without coming off as preachy or predictable. Most jokes had me cracking up; even the ones that were targeted directly at conservative Republicans such as myself. And that's when you know it's really good. In fact, no matter how raunchy/overall insane this gets, the odd/somewhat scary thing is that it's usually not too far with what really happens, but with a little more silliness involved. Another interesting thing to note is that instead of making the characters one-dimensional personality cut-outs, which they easily could've done, each character has their own personal struggles, such as Brady's realization of how detached he is from his son and Huggins pretty much having to make a choice between his wife's respect & political victory. And these sub-plots are actually resolved by the end of the movie, even though the writers could've just put them in for one scene in the middle and never brought it up again. Also, these sub-plots manage to bring some realism into the world of exaggeration that some of this movie presents, which ultimately lead to the movie's ending, which is centered all around honesty and how important it can really be in the long run. In conclusion, don't take the lukewarm scores too seriously, since this is a fantastic piece of political satire that I'm sure will still be poignant & relevant to the crazily messed up world of politics for years to come.
A film about politics... and it's really stupid. Figures.
The main point of this film is to make a person laugh. And I did. Quite a lot. From simple things like the sight of Pugs staring out of a window, full of jealousy, to a baby being punched in the face. It is no masterpiece, but I was never bored and was always entertained.
Ferrell and Galifianakis work great as the two rivals, and although this is mainly Galifianakis' story, the film tries to make you relate to both the characters. The film works pretty well, and definitely isn't one of Ferrell's so called 'misses', but I wouldn't say it was an 'Anchorman' level, simply because it doesn't have that sort of quotable nature- there are many more visual jokes etc.
The ending does ruin the fun feeling of the whole film, as many of the jokes seem to be taken too far, and everything then has to keep to the formula to keep the audience satisfied at the end- but overall this is a funny and entertaining film, that actually does have a bit to say about Politics.
I love Will Ferrell. I love Zach Galifianakis. I hate this movie. This type of shallow comedy is usually found in Adam Sandler movies. Great actors, great premise, but atrocious writing.
A typical vehicle for Will and Zach. There's not much of a message here, other than avoid these types of movies and find a better so-called comedy to watch on your Friday night when you're flipping through channels on TV. The writing is horrible, and the jokes come across as stupid and forced. Nothing in this movie seems to go right.