The Campaign (2012)

In order to gain influence over their North Carolina district, two CEOs seize an opportunity to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: naive Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center.

Director:

Jay Roach

Writers:

Chris Henchy (screenplay), Shawn Harwell (screenplay),

Stars:

Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Ferrell	...	Cam Brady
Zach Galifianakis	...	Marty Huggins
Jason Sudeikis	...	Mitch
Dylan McDermott	...	Tim Wattley
Katherine LaNasa	...	Rose Brady
Sarah Baker	...	Mitzi Huggins
John Lithgow	...	Glenn Motch
Dan Aykroyd	...	Wade Motch
Brian Cox	...	Raymond Huggins
Karen Maruyama	...	Mrs. Yao
Grant Goodman	...	Clay Huggins
Kya Haywood	...	Dylan Huggins
Randall D. Cunningham	...	Cam Jr. (as Randall Cunningham)
Madison Wolfe	...	Jessica Brady
Thomas Middleditch	...	Travis

Storyline

When Cam Brady (D-NC), a four-term Congressman, becomes a liability, the Motch brothers (think Koch brothers) recruit Marty Huggins, the son of a Republican heavy hitter, to run against him and be their vehicle to establish factories in the district that will import cheap Chinese labor. Trouble is, Marty is a lightweight, so his makeover falls to consultant Tim Wattley. The race tightens as Cam constantly shoots himself in the foot, while the prospect of winning also changes Marty and his family's dynamics. Meanwhile, Cam plays dirty, and Marty cottons on to the Moches' grand plan. What options do the rich have to get their way?

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Plot Keywords:

congressman | north carolina | slapstick | moustache | punched in the face | 

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Taglines:

May the best loser win.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude sexual content, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dog Fight

Filming Locations:

Courthouse Square, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$26,588,460 (USA) (10 August 2012)

Gross:

$86,897,182 (USA) (16 November 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Everyman Pictures, Gary Sanchez Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the end credits when Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis) is mentioning the aliases used by Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott), one of the names he says is Dermot Mulroney. In real life, McDermott is sometimes confused with Mulroney due to the similarities in their names.

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Goofs

At the very beginning of the movie, an on-screen quote is attributed to H. Ross Perot ("War has rules. Mud wrestling has rules. Politics has no rules"), and refers to him as a 1988 Presidential candidate. Perot ran for President twice: first in 1992 and again in 1996, the year he made the comment used in the film. He did not run in 1988.

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Quotes

Mitch: [to Cam] What are you pointin' to there, you got a book of bad ideas?

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Crazy Credits

During the credits there is an additional scene depicting the trial with Motch brothers. The scene also partly explains the origins of Tim Wattley.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Review: Episode #1.9 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Barracuda"
Written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Michael DeRosier, and Roger Fisher
Performed by Heart

User Reviews

An entertaining, but not totally satisfactory, political satire

The election period in the United States has traditionally been a fountain of humorous material exploited to the maximum by the comedians, most of them on TV, but also in cinema, as we can see this year in the film The Campaign, directed by Jay Roach, whose filmography includes some excellent comedies (the Austin Powers trilogy)...and other deeply irritating ones (Meet the Fockers, Dinner for Schmucks). I would also like to point out that The Campaign isn't Roach's first incursion into the political field, because he also made the TV movies Recount and Game Change, which both made a brilliant work in portraying the pressures and vices from a presidential campaign from a serious and (more or less) impartial point of view. Could The Campaign achieve the same but in a humorous context? I don't think so, but I can't deny I found the film entertaining nevertheless.

I think there's an excellent political satire hidden in some place of The Campaign. The general premise of an inept lout who is transformed into a charismatic candidate manipulated by the economical elite is very interesting; and event though it's not completely original, I think it's appropriate to occasionally remember it in order to recognize it whenever we find it in the real world (something which undoubtedly happens with a sad frequency). However, the few intelligence from the screenplay is diluted by the coarse and vulgar humor employed as vehicle of the message. I have to admit I laughed in various occasions (specially during the "Our Father" scene), and I definitely found some ingenuity in the creation of absurd but credible situations (at least in the filthy context of contemporary politics)...however, for every scene that works, there's five or six which only provoke whining, specially due to the tendency the actors show to "play the fool". I think this is a very subjective point in any comedy; but in my personal taste, the humor always works better when the actors take their roles seriously and let the comedy to naturally flow from their attitudes and reactions. When they try to force the laughs with a physical or verbal affectation, they loose spontaneity and, specially, destruct the reality of the characters in order to transform them into caricatures.

And besides of that, I found the screenplay of The Campaign too innocent and predictable, taking a safe route until leading to a happy ending. So, I guess that not all the political satires can be as subtle and effective as Wag the Dog or In the Loop; however, I can give a moderate recommendation to The Campaign as an entertaining comedy, despite not being very memorable.