The Campaign (2012)

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The thing is, the only reason why this feels like it has a story is that it follows a campaign for US congress. If it didn't have that format, there would not be much of a story, but just a bunch of gags.Some of the gags are OK. Sadly, most of the OK ones are "out there" (like punching little life forms) - meaning, they're not really OK, but work in the context.Performance-wise, most actors do OK, but not really well or inspired.Comedies like these can have a message, like painting all modern political campaigns as worthless or such. But, it doesn't, because you know it's a comedy, so you don't care for all the idiotic things that happen, 'cause there's no emotional impact to feel. Of course, it's perfectly fine to just use the premise for laughs, but, in that case, the laughs should be much better or more frequent.

I don't know if any of the main actors have helped with the dialogs or the characters, but they fit very well into their parts and the dialogs and everything.Well if you take a real life story (maybe) and turn it into a comedy with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis everything can go wrong (in a good way), it does not in this case, but the do make a lot of fun on the expense of politicians and politics. This is funny for most parts, it is raunchy, a bit foolish and sometimes over the top, but most political campaigns are, it seems like this is a comedy that are making fun of something that in the first place is funny and maybe a bit stupid.They make it work, capture the moments and the points and is entertaining most of the way.

I think that, living in Britain and being brought up on such classics as 'Yes, Minister' and 'The Thick of It,' the bar has been raised pretty high when it comes to political satire. The Campaign is about two political rivals, vying to be Senator in America. It's not as clever as either of the British TV shows; it's more low-brow and slapstick - definitely not as clever. However, it's still good in its own way.Will Ferrell is on form as one slimy Senator and Zach Galifianakis is equally amusing as his hapless and dopey rival. It's daft, enjoyable fun that anyone can enjoy with plenty of laugh out loud moments.It really doesn't matter who wins as the story comes secondary to seeing the two leads send up politicians in general for the lying, patronising, amoral, self-serving cads they are with their polished manufactured image and double-standards (I could go on).Maybe The Campaign is a sad sign of the times? Once upon a time politicians were respected figures of authority. Now they're so unpopular that they're easy fodder to be sent up - and we enjoy seeing them presented like this.It may not be a classic, but it has enough 'laugh out loud' moments to make it definitely worth a watch.

For some untold reason, Hollywood is usually indifferent when it comes to treading the ever widening gap between Republicans and Democrats. Political satires, as we have seen before (Welcome to Mooseport), works in favor of an international audience by not dwelling into either philosophy too deeply. That being said, The Campaign does throw subtle jabs towards Conservatives as well as Liberals, and in doing so, makes this movie a slapstick lampoon rather than a witty satire. Why? Look no further than characters played by Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis – one has a heart of gold and the other thinks he excretes gold! Running for his fifth consecutive year as Congressman of North Carolina, Cam Brady's (Ferrell) campaign hits a snag after Cam publicly embarrasses himself in a sex scandal. Seizing the moment, albeit with corrupt intentions as puppeteers, industrialists Wade (Dan Aykroyd) and Glenn Motch (John Lithgow) ring up Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) as Cam's rival contender. A naive and timid family man, Marty is no contest and Cam has no trouble in drawing first blood at the introductory campaign launch. This is when the Motch brothers send in campaign manager Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott) to Marty's rescue. Tim is quick to turn Marty around into giving Cam a run for his money. The rest, if you stay tuned, is a tooth and nail dogfight but typical of a Will Ferrell movie; think Step Brothers and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.Of the two 'wolf pack' comedies last year, The Campaign might just have the edge over Neighborhood Watch, thanks to Adam McKay's hand in producing and co-scripting the story. Judging from McKay's previous collaborations with Ferrell, comic elements here are a standard affair and as expected, you get to see a grown man behave like a little brat, or in context, a sore loser. As such, Ferrell's Cam resorts to some dirty tricks that translates into crude humor, both above and below the belt. In contrast, Galifianakis's Marty is a watered-down dimwit, but an oddball nevertheless, with honest intentions behind his political aspirations. Pitched on a collision course, Ferrell and Galifianakis are both within character and both within their elements as comedians. The problem I see is that familiarity comes with contempt, part and parcel. Amid the outrageous slander and sledging, tantrum throwing and punches that don't land on target, Ferrell and Galifianakis will make you laugh, some, the same way they have done before. Just don't expect to be rolling down the aisles. As a comedy, the story gets by with regular chuckles where the few original jokes are sporadic yet engaging. But considering the comic talent and various cameos throughout the film, there is hardly any input from the supporting cast. Jason Sudeikis as Cam's campaign manager is mostly sidelined. On the other hand, McDermott's default shadiness in Tim seems to work without any apparent attempt at humor. Then there is Lithgow and Aykroyd whose wit never really manifests into a comic moment. Finally, the feel-good ending undermines all the comic mischief that went into the premise – morons who decide to become leaders.For all that it's worth, this is probably the first political romp aimed at actually making a stance during the 2012 election season in the United States. With multiple spoofs within spoofs, it's no wonder that Motch rhymes with Koch.