It’s an election year and while everyone’s eyes are on President Obama and Mitt Romney, the real race is between Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) and Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis) for the congressional seat for the 14th District of North Carolina. Well, at least that’s the case in The Campaign.
For the past few years, Cam Brady has run unopposed for election, making him the default representative of the town. He loves his job, but he loves the perks of the job a whole lot more. His carelessness soon gets him in hot water with a pair of high-powered CEOs who feel that it’s time for change. They want someone who they can control and mold into whatever they want, someone like Marty Huggins. The Campaign is a no holds barred race to Washington between two buffoons who know nothing about real politics. It’s a win-win situation for the American film goer.
The humor comes from when the film’s opposite personalities of Ferrell and Galifianakis clash into a sea of crude trash-talking and smear campaigns. The chemistry between the two is great, with joke after joke being delivered. The Campaign manages to keep a steady flow of laughs coming, whether it’s from Dylan McDermott’s methods of transforming Marty, a wimpy shadow of a man, into Martin, an ideal running candidate, or Cam’s infamous punching of an infant baby. Spoiler alert; the baby punching is only the beginning. It gets much worse.
The Campaign also isn’t afraid to take a few jabs at politics itself, either. While it doesn’t push too many buttons or reach some new level of comedy, the film provides the humor you would expect out the likes of Will Ferrell. The story won’t win any awards, but you’ll probably be laughing too much to care. Watching these two comedy powerhouses trade blows with each other provides some of the best material we’ve seen out of either of them in a while.
If you’re looking for a good laugh, The Campaign delivers, even if you’re not into politics. Babies get punched, wives will be slept with, and swears will be thrown. What more could you ask for?
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