The Campaign
Jay Roach is a fascinating filmmaker. Best known, for a long time, for the “Austin Powers” trilogy and “Meet the Parents,” the past few years, he’s turned to the absurdities of politics for his subjects. A couple of years ago, there was “Recount,” in which he looked at the controversial 2000 election, and the uproar about what happened in Florida. Earlier this year, he did “Game Change,” where he explores the inner workings of the McCain campaign in 2008 after Sarah Palin was chosen as the Vice Presidential candidate. Both of these cable movies are a long way from the spoof humor of the “Austin Powers” films, or a more recent effort like “Dinner for Schmucks.”
In the same vein as “Recount” and “Game Change” comes “The Campaign.” On the surface, it’s a predictably low-brow comedy with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as small-town America congressional nominees who will stoop to any level to win; in all honesty, that film gets old kind of quickly. But Roach is hunting bigger game. The truth is that under the surface, Roach has made the most wickedly funny political satire since Warren Beatty’s “Bulworth.” What makes this level of “The Campaign” so successful is how Roach throws his punches with a nonpartisan aim. Yes, we get John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd as the Motch brothers, a practically-wide open take on the billionaire Koch brothers, whose political influence over the Tea Party has threatened the ability of our government to function. However, even though Ferrell’s Cam Brady is the Democratic incumbent in the race, and Galifianakis’s Marty Huggins is the Republican challenger (hand picked by the Motch’s), both are portrayed as equally stupid. There’s no real difference in their approaches to the campaigning process, and when things get really out of control as election day gets closer, it’s almost impossible to feel much sympathy for either of them, although we still feel more compassion for the everyman Huggins, whose life is turned upside down because of the Motch’s influence. When Ferrell, Galifianakis, and Roach keep their focus on the corrupting influence of the political “win at all cost” attitude of most candidates today, “The Campaign” is hilarious craziness. All too often, however, they go for lowest common denominator laughs; none of these otherwise gifted comedic talents are capable of saving that type of movie. Unfortunately, it makes “The Campaign” kind of frustrating to watch; in that way, it’s exactly like every other political race.
