MOVIEmeter
Top 500
Down 82 this week

The Campaign (2012)

 -  Comedy  -  10 August 2012 (USA)
6.1
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.1/10 from 56,410 users   Metascore: 50/100
Reviews: 143 user | 236 critic | 35 from Metacritic.com

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:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay), 3 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 964 titles created 10 Mar 2012
 
a list of 2366 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 574 titles created 18 Jul 2011
 
a list of 580 titles created 16 Jul 2011
 
a list of 29 titles created 7 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Campaign (2012)

The Campaign (2012) on IMDb 6.1/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Campaign.
2 wins & 5 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Due Date (2010)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

High-strung father-to-be Peter Highman is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child's birth on time.

Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan
Step Brothers (2008)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

Two aimless middle-aged losers still living at home are forced against their will to become roommates when their parents get married.

Director: Adam McKay
Stars: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Three friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.

Director: Seth Gordon
Stars: Jason Bateman, Steve Wiebe, Charlie Day
Old School (2003)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Three men are disenchanted with life and try to recapture their college days.

Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn
The Change-Up (2011)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

Dave is a married man with two kids and a loving wife , and Mitch is a single man who is at the prime of his sexual life. One fateful night while Mitch and Dave are peeing in a fountain when lightning strikes and they switch bodies.

Director: David Dobkin
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Role Models (2008)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps to enroll in a Big Brother program.

Director: David Wain
Stars: Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Goon (2011)
Comedy | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.

Director: Michael Dowse
Stars: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill
Ted (2012)
Comedy | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

As the result of a childhood wish, John Bennett's teddy bear, Ted, came to life and has been by John's side ever since - a friendship that's tested when Lori, John's girlfriend of four years, wants more from their relationship.

Director: Seth MacFarlane
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A record company intern is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater.

Director: Nicholas Stoller
Stars: Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Jonah Hill
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.

Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A middle-aged husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.

Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Mitch
...
Tim Wattley
...
...
Mitzi Huggins
...
Glenn Motch
...
Wade Motch
...
Raymond Huggins
...
Mrs. Yao
...
Clay Huggins
...
Dylan Huggins
...
Cam Jr. (as Randall Cunningham)
...
Jessica Brady
...
Travis
Edit

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? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

May the best loser win.

Genres:

Comedy

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude sexual content, language and brief nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

10 August 2012 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Dog Fight  »

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

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

Gross:

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

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

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. See more »

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. See more »

Quotes

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

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. See more »

Connections

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

Soundtracks

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

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
An entertaining, but not totally satisfactory, political satire
1 November 2012 | by (Argentina) – See all my reviews

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.


5 of 7 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Parts that had me howling with laughter jaltenbu
Nip Slip? -- Why? BearDrivesCar
The Motch brothers (Aykroyd and Lithgow) MyNameIsMiles727
Who played the married teacher that Cam hits on? LeaveItToReaver
Salt n Pepa reference? Lost_Woods87
The Muck Brothers simon_neville
Discuss The Campaign (2012) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?