This was pretty funny.

The Asian housekeeper was the best part though.

Review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=791

One other complaint: I hate Jason Sudeikis' character in this. Or the way he is utilized, rather. As if the audience is SO moronic, we need a designated character to explain to us when the main characters are going too far. Maybe in a more nuanced and thoughtful comedy, the Ferrell/Sudeikis relationship might have been intriguing in a John Travolta/Kathy Bates/Primary Colors type way, but not in shit this absurdly, grotesquely broad (way too broad to offend anyone, unless they find profanity distasteful). Everything Sudeikis says is just obvious and useless.

Also, I find Zach Galifianakis amusing and cute, and he certainly survives this flop less scathed than Will Ferrell, but is he ALWAYS going to play the fairy-princess dimwit? I feel as if his characters are always introduced the same way: "hilariously" preening and gliding toward the camera, butt in the air and super fey. It's becoming a bit stale. I honestly thought Marty was going to come out as gay before the end of the film.

Agreed on the second part.

The rest of the movie was mildly amusing for the most part, with most of its jokes being the most absurd thing the character could think of.

C+

Loses momentum considerably as it progresses, but The Campaign contains a number of extremely funny moments and on-point political satire. Not the best comedy from either Ferrell or Galifanakis by a long shot but still a good time. B

So awful.

I had a lot of fun with it, but I'm a complete political junkie. Seeing the whole process roasted so thoroughly had me in stitches.

You consider this a "thorough" roasting of today's political process? Seriously?

I know a degree of vague lip service is paid ("ha ha, instead of the Koch brothers, they're the MOTCH BROTHERS! HA!"), but I would hardly describe this as thorough. Funny is subjective, of course.

You consider Prometheus and The Bourne Legacy to be better than Killer Joe and Moonrise Kingdom? Seriously?

Yes, actually. From the stupid pundits to the Koch brothers to our country's hilarious requirement of candidates to be hardcore Christians. It's not subtle, but it's a roasting.

The first part of your response is uncalled for seeing as I was just trying to discuss this film, not your (surely beyond reproach) taste in film in general. Don't be an asshole.

It doesn't seriously criticize or lampoon the Koch brothers, though. I'm just going to quote A. O. Scott rather than steal his thought:



The film "roasts" them by using a similar name, I s'pose, but the film's nefarious brothers are far too divergent from their real-world counterparts for there to be any true ideological roasting.

I will agree there are a few nice bits lampooning the way politicians try to prove they're more Christian and more patriotic than their opponents.

I'd rather like to keep pressing on, thanks. Especially when I get a silly "You actually thought (insert something I said here)? Seriously?" No, David, I'm posting fake things for my own amusement.

The film isn't making fun of the Koch brothers as human beings, but instead their potential influence on politics. It's an easy target.

All right, never mind then.

I laughed a lot more than I was expecting. I feared another Dinner for Schmucks, but this wasn't half bad.

Needed more John Goodman, though.

Galifinakis is alright but Will Ferrell is in some of his best comedic form here. Right after Marty enters the race, every scene with Will is hilarious.

Now this is a funny movie!

Forget the politics, it's really just a Dumb and Dumber style character study - - small intelligence, big laughs.


18 out of 5.

The Campaign

Despite its soppy and disappointing ending, The Campaign is an entertaining and light-hearted look at US politics. Will Ferrell masters the US political template of saying a lot but not actually saying anything, and he outshines Zach Galifianakis, who quite frankly is annoying. This one-trick wonder has really outstayed his Hollywood welcome. He's unfunny and type-cast, and it's not wanted anymore.

It's not overly funny (I remember laughing once, I think), but it's enjoyable and the subtle references to US politicians (mostly George Bush) within Ferrell's performance are fantastic. The political system and its popularity contest are also greatly on show here - how stupid incidents can make a candidate go drastically up or down in the polls (and the over-reliance on polls in general) is what makes this satire work. It's all there if you want to see it. Oh, and the Asian maid/housekeeper who speaks black was pretty fucking great.

B

C+

Some funny scenes (Galifianakis is tamer than I expected him to be), but as with most Will-Ferrell-comedies, this is very much hit/miss and the miss ratio is rather high unfortunately.