For the past few years it’s been well documented that whenever Will Ferrell stars in a movie, it’s either a direct hit or a Dwight Howard free throw kind of miss. If he’s not killing it with movies like “The Other Guys” or “Anchorman,” then he’s dead on arrival with films like “Semi-Pro” and “Land of The Lost.” It’s become pretty evident that if Ferrell doesn’t have a competent co-star to help him carry and maintain character interest in a film then he’s basically Ike without Tina. Here we have his latest offering, “The Campaign” and if it wasn’t for Zack Galifianakis, this one would’ve fallen into Ferrell’s film failures category, but instead treads the line between mediocrity and quality.
“The Campaign” centers around inept Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) who’s a lock to win his fifth consecutive term as congressman of North Carolina simply because he continues to run unchallenged. But that changes after he leaves a very sexually explicit voicemail on an answering machine that is heard by a family while saying grace at the dinner table. Brady’s response to the scandal? “Who still has an answering machine? Why are they deprived of modern technology? That’s the real issue.” Spoken like a true stereotypical politician who answers questions with more questions.
In response to Brady’s blatant incompetence, Republican big wigs the Motch Brothers (John Lithgow and Dan Akroyd) decide it’s time for change and anoint a simple-as-a-Lil-B-rhyme man named Marty Hugging (Zack Galifianakis) to oppose Brady in the upcoming congressional race with ulterior motives for his town in mind. A true humanitarian who is such a product of the old southern ways that he pays his Asian maid an extra $50 a week to speak with a black Louisiana accent. However, Hugging quickly learns that he’s ill prepared for the dirty and often family breaking world of politics. Needless to say, this is where the real comedy begins.
Though the site gags like watching a baby accidentally take a punch to the face in slow motion from Cam Brady and the sex tape turned campaign commercial were all good and fun, the real gold was in the dialogue and memorable quotes not only from Ferrell and Galifianakis, but from their family members and campaign managers. Listening to Marty’s sons confess things like “I accidentally got a man killed on the internet” and “I went to the petting zoo and I let the goat lick my penis” at the dinner table was gut-busting funny.
While “The Campaign” didn’t live up to the promise it seemed to have, it was definitely as entertaining as anything real life Republicans have done in the past year. From Romney’s constant retractions to Herman Cain being a mixtape shout-out away from owning a Pimp Cup, “The Campaign” is a stark and comedic reminder that even though these are our elected officials, there’s a good chance that they’re dealing with more personal issues than the Lohan and Hogan families combined and aren’t fit to run a bath let alone an office.
Rated R / Unrated
Length: 96 minutes
Price: $35.99
Blu-Ray Extras Include:
Line-O-Rama
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
