Whenever there’s a major event happening in the world it’s usually not long before we have a film to match it and get bums in seats for relevance purposes. In the case of the 2012 US presidential elections we have The Campaign, a hit-and-miss attempt at political comedy that doesn’t quite work on the level you might hope but with enough worthy gags to scrape past the finish line.
Long-term Republican congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) has run unopposed for years and is used to the good life that comes along with the job. However, when two greedy CEOs decide to back a surprise rival candidate in the form of oddball Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis) in order to seize influence over a North Carolina district, Cam finds his cushy seat of power under threat.
The Campaign comes from a team of people well-versed in 21st century comedy, including director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers in Goldmember), writers Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell (The Other Guys, Eastbound & Down), producer Adam McKay (Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) and, of course, the two leading stars Ferrell and Galifianakis.
As you might expect the jokes here come at you thick and fast but the trouble is not all of them work as they should, with many even falling flat as slapstick and foul-mouthed crudeness gets in the way of the potential for genuine political satire. The film tries to have its cake and eat it too, hitting below the belt with a lot of the jokes that would feel more at home in the terminally stupid but still damn funny Step Brothers (where that’s the tone set from the get-go) while trying to have a go at the American political system. Because things are centred in a political arena, so to speak, the two approaches don’t mesh together in this particular case.
Having said that, the movie somewhat works because of the two leading performances. Ferrell is basically just doing a more thinly-veiled version of his President Bush impression from Saturday Night Live but it’s a finely crafted performance that fits the material. He is at odds with Galifianakis’ flamboyant, out-of-his-depth Marty Huggins and the two actors are clearly having a lot of fun going toe-to-toe with another as their characters resort to everything from trash talking to (credibility-stretching) political sabotage.
It lacks the true bite of political satire the set-up had the potential for and its uneven approach, plus a tacked on sentimental ending, makes it somewhat of a disappointment. It only gets by thanks to two spot-on comedic performances and the fact that there’s so many gags that a decent amount of them are bound to, and do, hit the intended mark. However, when the funniest part of your movie is seeing a baby get punched in the face you know you’re in trouble…
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The Campaign is released in UK cinemas on September 28th.
