The Campaign (2012) Directed by Jay Roach
Funny thing with Will Ferrell movies are that they can really make me
laugh but still they aren't ever really great movies. Same can be said
for this movie as well; it made me laugh but as a whole, it really was
a lacking movie to watch.
It still handles its main concept well enough though. You would think that a comedy about a political campaign and two opposing candidates would consists out of some very formulaic political jokes. After all, we all know very well political campaigns are often all silly smear campaigns, with sleazy and slimy candidates, trying to suck up to their voters, by using all of the right words and promises. In other words, you basically could know what to expect from a comedy that is poking fun at this phenomenon but I have to admit the movie came up with some pretty need and original stuff. Some of the formulaic and typical jokes are there but there really are plenty of original moments in this movie as well, that might catch you off guard. It really are the random moments in this movie, that have absolutely nothing to do with its main plot, that are the best and funniest.
But it at the same time also really is a one note movie. It's about a political campaign and that's it! Well, that's not entirely true, since they actually try to throw in a bigger plot, involving the Dan Aykroyd, John Lithgow and Brian Cox character but this really doesn't work out all that well for the movie and it also so easily could had been left out, or replaced by something more clever and less formulaic.
Because this mostly is being a one note movie, it also starts to drag and loses its comical effect after a while. You don't feel that the movie is ever going anywhere truly good or provoking with its themes or story and it's never really building up effectively toward its end.
But I guess it's true this is not really a movie that mostly relies on its writing anyway. It more relies on its principal actors and their deliveries of the jokes and visual gags. And really, you can't really go wrong when you have comedy experts such as Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis involved. They still help to make this movie a really fun experience, that however won't stay in memory for long.
6/10
It still handles its main concept well enough though. You would think that a comedy about a political campaign and two opposing candidates would consists out of some very formulaic political jokes. After all, we all know very well political campaigns are often all silly smear campaigns, with sleazy and slimy candidates, trying to suck up to their voters, by using all of the right words and promises. In other words, you basically could know what to expect from a comedy that is poking fun at this phenomenon but I have to admit the movie came up with some pretty need and original stuff. Some of the formulaic and typical jokes are there but there really are plenty of original moments in this movie as well, that might catch you off guard. It really are the random moments in this movie, that have absolutely nothing to do with its main plot, that are the best and funniest.
But it at the same time also really is a one note movie. It's about a political campaign and that's it! Well, that's not entirely true, since they actually try to throw in a bigger plot, involving the Dan Aykroyd, John Lithgow and Brian Cox character but this really doesn't work out all that well for the movie and it also so easily could had been left out, or replaced by something more clever and less formulaic.
Because this mostly is being a one note movie, it also starts to drag and loses its comical effect after a while. You don't feel that the movie is ever going anywhere truly good or provoking with its themes or story and it's never really building up effectively toward its end.
But I guess it's true this is not really a movie that mostly relies on its writing anyway. It more relies on its principal actors and their deliveries of the jokes and visual gags. And really, you can't really go wrong when you have comedy experts such as Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis involved. They still help to make this movie a really fun experience, that however won't stay in memory for long.
6/10
Watch trailer
