Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

The Campaign

THE CAMPAIGN (Jay Roach). 85 minutes. Opens Friday (August 10). See listing. Rating: NNN


Truth can often be stranger than fiction, especially on the Republican campaign trail. But director Jay Roach (the Austin Powers movies) and actors Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis still find plenty to satirize in their frequently funny comedy about two bumbling North Carolinians vying for a seat in Congress.

Cam Brady (Ferrell) is the incumbent whose numbers have plummeted after being caught in a sex scandal, so the wealthy Motch (rhymes with Koch) brothers (a wasted John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd) decide to back the friendly but idiotic Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), hiring a slick campaign manager (Dylan McDermott) to make him (and his homely family) into an all-American package. The money men have ulterior motives, though, involving slave labour from China.

The fun begins once the candidates butt heads at debates and then stoop to one ridiculous attack ad after another. Ferrell has played this blustering archetype before, but Galifianakis gets the more challenging role, morphing from dim (and slightly effeminate) good ol’ Southern boy with a daddy complex to a man who understands the total corruption around him.

Not all the jokes hit, but some of them – like a family confessional, or a hunting scene, or an ongoing gag involving a sassy maid (Karen Maruyama) – are deliriously fun.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted