The Campaign (2012) - Jay Roach

Congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) has had the luxury of running unopposed for the last four re-election campaigns in North Carolina.  After a highly publicized gaffe which hurts his public image,  two billionaires, played by Dan Aykryod and John Lithgow, decide to support a naive man in Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), with billionaires true intentions being about exploiting the small town for monetary gains.  Jay Roach's The Campaign is a comical look into cutthroat, ridiculous world of political campaigns.  The film follows a rather traditional trajectory for this type of comedy, with both the men being complete buffoons, who in the end realize the error of their ways.  What surprised me so much about the film is just how well the political commentary is actually executed.  So many films like this, or people for that matter, attempt to demonize one party or the other in a their effort to make a statement about politics but the Campaign never takes shots at either the Republicans or Democrats, rather understanding that they are both equally capable of folding to the powers of greed and monetary gain.   This is why i hate politics and most of the people who are so firmly republican or democrat, with the film exposing how similar they are.  We see the absurdity of political elections and how both parties spend more time demonizing each other instead of actually trying to help the people of America.  Enough of the political talk as I am sure anyone reading this is far more interested in the entertainment value.  Well, it mostly succeeds in being quite funny.  Both Farrell and Galifianakis do there typical thing to decent effect, with the film having some rather clever dialogue and comedic ideas.  I particularly found the majority of the campaign ads to be the highlight of the film, delivering on some hilarious moments. 

7/10

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