Movie Review: The Campaign

The Campaign, which teams up comedy dream-team Will Ferrell and Zach Galifinakis, is one of the funniest, yet most underrated comedies I've seen this year. Cam Brady, (played by Farrell, channelling his Ricky Bobby role), is a bumbling congressman that has ran unopposed for five terms. Marty Huggins, played by Galifinakis, is the local "town tour-giver," and is the patriarch of a traditional Southern Baptist family, who decides to finally challenge Cam to appease his fathers disappointment. So this brings us to all out war. Cam is caught up in a scandal (which is a blatant reference to Bill Clinton), which threatens to ruin his political career. Marty is blackmailed and then turned into someone who he is not comfortable with. Both opponents dig up old secrets and bring new ones to light. In the end, the right person wins, and both turn from opponents into friends and co-workers.

This film was filled to the brim with humor and great performances. Ferrell and Galifinakis are great together, mixing a perfect combination of Ferrell's slapstick and Galifinakis' quirkiness. They both have their fair share of scenes and one-liners, and they just blend together very well. There are some funny cameos by Dan Akroyd and a few other comedic classics. The writing was very funny and well paced, never dragging or lacking a fair share of humor. I believe some people just take this film too seriously, thinking that the jokes were silly and the performances just a little too wacky. I just think this film should be taken with a grain of salt. Just sit back and enjoy, laugh at the jokes (you know they're funny), and have fun. Galifinakis is charming as Marty, and I just think the movie as a whole deserves more credit than it has been given. A good movie to watch with buddies, for date night, or just to have a good laugh. It could have been a disaster, but it was not. And I respect it for that.

Rating: B+