Calgary Herald

The Campaign

The Campaign punches below the ballot box

- JESSE KINOS-GOODIN

Will Ferrell’s absurd brand of slapstick, effectivel­y blurs the line between reality and raunchy.

There’s something about the latest Will Ferrell comedy depicting two U.S. Republican­s battling it out to become North Carolina’s congressma­n that rings true.

Maybe it’s the John Edwards hair, or the willingnes­s for media to tack “gate” onto the end of just about any sort of scandal, but The Campaign seems to draw a lot from real political fixtures and incidents. It’s filtered, of course, through Ferrell’s absurd brand of slapstick, effectivel­y blurring the line between reality and raunchy.

The Campaign could almost be seen as prequel to Ferrell’s Tony Award-nominated Broadway play You’re Welcome America: A final night with George W. Bush. Where the latter was a depiction of the real-life former president patting himself on the back for all his supposed accomplish­ments, the former is about a fictional congressma­n who, if he found himself in the White House, would surely ruin the country.

There’s really not much difference between Ferrell’s impression of Bush and his role here as North Carolina congressma­n Cam Brady, the incompeten­t incumbent who keeps winning simply because no one else runs. That, and it doesn’t hurt that his platform is easy to remember — “America, Jesus, freedom.”

It’s a wonder the movie wasn’t set in Texas though considerin­g Ferrell’s obvious muse, but it works just the same, both as a comedy and as a political satire about just how low politician­s will go on the campaign trail.

Timed, obviously, to coincide with the U.S. Republican nomination and ensuing presidenti­al election, The Campaign looks at what happens when Brady, on his way to re-election, makes a major gaffe (in this case leaving a filthy message to his mistress on the wrong answering machine), leaving his more levelheade­d campaign manager (Jason Sudeikis) to try to clean up the mess.

But that’s not before billionair­e powers that be the Moch Brothers (played by Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow in a not-so-subtle jab at real-life movers and shakers the Koch Brothers) decide it’s time to back another candidate.

That man is Marty Huggins, but for Zach Galifianak­is fans, it’s essentiall­y his fictional twin brother Seth, who nobody’s seen much of since Galifianak­is broke out in 2009 with The Hangover. The name’s changed, but the shtick is the same, right down to the voice, poor taste in clothing and “Saddam Hussein” moustache. The soft-spoken Huggins seems like the least likely Republican candidate, but his blue-blooded family’s political ties run deep, so he’s groomed and moulded by a shadowy campaign manager (Dylan McDermott) into a political machine perfectly capable of racing Brady to the bottom.

Fans of both Galifianak­is and Ferrell will see a lot of the laughs coming, as director Jay Roach (Dinner for Schmucks, Meet the Parents) doesn’t push either actor out of their pre-establishe­d comfort zones. But when the big laughs do land — the campaignsm­ear videos particular­ly standout — the comedy is funnier than anything from The Other Guys and Due Date combined.

It’s also possible that Huggins’ two pug dogs, Cupcake and Poundcake, have even more screen presence than The Artist’s Uggie (who makes a particular­ly inspired cameo). It’s just too bad the breed is Chinese, and therefore deemed too communist for the campaign trail, a joke pushed even further when they’re promptly replaced with a golden retriever and a chocolate Labrador named Sergeant and Scout.

Of course, being a comedy from the Ferrell/adam Mckay production team, there’s also a fair share of cheap laughs, such as a slow-motion shot of a baby getting punched in the face, but when The Campaign focuses on the downward spiral of campaignin­g, mudslingin­g and attack ads without going too over the top, it actually comes off as a sharp satire.

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 ?? Warner Bros. ?? Zach Galifianak­is, left, as Marty Huggins and Will Ferrell as Cam Brady battle it out to become a congressma­n.
Warner Bros. Zach Galifianak­is, left, as Marty Huggins and Will Ferrell as Cam Brady battle it out to become a congressma­n.

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