‘Campaign’ pokes fun at real-life political figures

“The Campaign”

Directed by: Jay…“The Campaign”

Directed by: Jay Roach

Starring: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis

Grade: B

It’s not sophisticated. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s also not that far off the mark.

“The Campaign” satirically picks at real-life politicians during an influential time in American politics through its witty plot and the comedic interactions between the two main characters.

“The Campaign” is about a congressional race in North Carolina for a House seat that Cam Brady, played by a well-coiffed Will Ferrell, has held for eight years, running unopposed every time. Then enters Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), who decides to run at the urgings of his politically connected father (Brian Cox) and the evil Motch brothers, a fun-to-watch duo of Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow.

Brady is an incumbent more interested in having the position rather than living up to his responsibilities, and Huggins is a morally sound odd-ball that gets duped by the Motch brothers. The duo see him as a puppet for their evil scheme to set up a Chinese sweatshop in the United States.

For fans of Ferrell and Galifianakis’s particular brands of comedy, this film won’t disappoint. The jokes are sometimes stupid, Ferrell acts like a buffoon and Galifianakis is a weirdo wearing cardigans and mock turtlenecks throughout the entire film.

But what redeems these blunders is the plot, which zips along nicely as it follows the weeks leading up to the election. There’s just enough room for the funny and awkward interactions that Ferrell and Galifianakis both thrive on without any of the uncomfortable ad-libbing that can sometimes become tedious in other Ferrell films.

Many things in this film are implausible. These falsehoods don’t matter though, and that’s part of the charm. “The Campaign” is so over-the-top, so far from touching on all the real issues, that it’s a pleasant respite from the actual state of politics today.

The only touch of reality comes from fictional national news coverage that calls on well-known pundits like Wolf Blitzer of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s “Hardball” and Bill Maher, among others, to warp these outrageous incidents into just more muck from the campaign trail.

In these pundit-centered moments, there’s a touch of truth when the outrageous gags are downplayed to appear as nothing more than run-of-the-mill election-time mud throwing. Viewers may think during these scenes, “This would never actually happen.” But that thought eventually becomes, “Could this ever happen?” and adds a comic realization to the political landscape. However, this momentary reflection is immediately wiped away by more insane one-up-manship out of Ferrell and Galifianakis.

“The Campaign” is funny. It’s also probably the best-case scenario in politics, where good triumphs evil, and more importantly, good and evil are clear-cut. “The Campaign” won’t deliver cutting political satire, but it will deliver laughs.