If you prefer your political comedies on the loony side, then you’ve probably already got your mind made up about Jay Roach’s The Campaign, the combined Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis vehicle opening today. The story here is one of good news mixed with some mediocrity; it’s very, very funny, and doesn’t make a habit of relenting much in between the big comedic beats, which it supplements with quieter, equally effective ticks. On the other hand, it’s also soft on fully-realized satire. The Campaign tries to ground itself in reality– it opens with a very real Ross Perot quote– but as much as it echoes events and figures from actual American politics, it fails to get under the skin as much as it should and sadly veers toward the saccharine in the last act. Read over my full review at Go, See, Talk! to get the whole story.
A Constant Visual Feast 
Really looking forward to this one because I love Will Farrell! Glad you enjoyed it too 🙂
I still wish it had had more to say and took fewer prisoners, but it did make me laugh.
It isn’t loony? I can name a few scenes where that isn’t the case. I’m very political, as well as a Ferrell/Galifianakis fan, but I gotta say I hated this film. There were a few good pokes at real politicians, but other than that, I barely laughed. Nope, if you’re gonna give TDKR a four-star review, you can’t give The Campaign a five-star review. It’s not even close to that good.
I’m not saying it’s not loony. It is. I personally laughed like crazy at a ton of the laughs here, but then, laughs aren’t the film’s problem (though comedy being so subjective I can see people not laughing at its big, broad, crassness). Its problem lies in its politics and its plot; it’s too mushy and “nice”. And I gave the movie roughly 2.5 out of 5 stars, which is just about where I’d rate TDKR.