"The Campaign" REVIEW

Hey Everyone,
      Today I will be reviewing the 2012 comedy “The Campaign”. A poignant satire on the absurdity of electoral campaigns. Given that we just ended the media circus surrounding this years presidential election I figured this would be a good title to review.
　

OVERVIEW

GENRE: COMEDY, SATIRE

RATED: R

STARRING: Will Ferrell (Stepbrothers, Anchorman), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Due Date)

WRITTEN BY: Chris Henchy (The Other Guys, Bachelorette) , Shawn Harwell (Eastbound and Down)

DIRECTED BY: Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents)

SUMMARY:

To gain control of their North Carolina district, Two industrial tycoons plan to oust the current unopposed congressmen Cam Brady (Ferrell) by funding Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) a dim-witted tourism director to run against him.

STORYLINE

    The storyline for this film is pretty basic. It starts by giving the current situations of each of the main characters and leading you into the fiasco that follows. It follows a pretty straight forward story line, which is appropriate for the film and leads you into some pretty hilarious mishaps and events along the way. While I wouldn’t particularly call this a film that your going to laugh from beginning to end, I would definitely say there are parts that will make you laugh hysterically. All in all I would say the story for this film did not meet it’s comedic potential but was funny nonetheless.
RATING: 2.5(of 5)-DECENT

SOUNDTRACK/VISUALS

    The soundtrack for this film is mostly comprised of rock music both old and new. The music I felt was used appropriately with the scenes it represented. The film made good use of several visual techniques to maximize the comedic effect of the scene. That along with its moderate pacing made the film easy to watch, follow and most importantly laugh at!
RATING: 2.5(of 5)-DECENT

ACTING/DIRECTING

       The acting in this movie I would say is just what you’d expect for those involved. Ferrell plays his part as over the top as possible, which makes for some hilarity but also can get a little annoying in my opinion. Galifianakis basically plays a version of his character “Seth” his twin brother. Those who are fans of Galifianakis will know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, he plays a kind of effeminate, naïve “southern boy” who has low self confidence and is very unsure of himself. The character is hilarious and was the highlight of the film in my opinion.
RATING:2.5(of 5)-DECENT

HYPE FACTOR

      There was a considerable amount of hype surrounding this film given that it came out around the elections and featured some of comedies biggest stars. Although I thought the film was funny I did feel it could have been better. All in all I would have to say this film did not quite live up to the hype surrounding it. For this film, I would say it was a case of the hype hurting the film, not the film hurting the hype.
RATING: 2.5(of 5)-DECENT

OVERALL

2.5(of 5)-DECENT

        If your in the mood for a raunchy, over the top comedy then this is the movie for you. Its context and style aren’t dissimilar from films such as Talledega Nights or Anchorman. I hope this review was helpful as always feel free to comment and or suggest new titles to review. -Thanks-

If you would like to check this movie out for yourself please click on the links below

“The Campaign” on DVD or Blu-Ray