The Campaign
Two buffoons square off in a down-and-dirty race for Congress.
Directed by Jay Roach
(R)
**
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Will Ferrell’s broad new political comedy “isn’t in the business” of providing sharp insights, said Rafer Guzmán in Newsday. “Its main message is that politics pretty much makes fun of itself,” so the movie “scores its biggest laughs when its stars merely act like real politicians.” Ferrell offers a “flawless John Edwards impersonation” in the lead role, said Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post. As a “handsome, compulsively promiscuous” congressman who is suddenly facing a challenger handpicked by a pair of billionaire brothers, the star “develops a simpatico rhythm” with counterpart Zach Galifianakis, ensuring that their mudslinging creates at least a few funny moments. But Galifianakis is “never allowed to cut loose and get weird the way he did in The Hangover,” and Ferrell’s character “simply comes across as a rude jerk,” said Adam Graham in The Detroit News. Worse, the movie consistently traffics in crude, easy humor instead of attempting cutting satire. “Any episode of The Daily Show” offers “a better read on the American political circus” than this lazy film. “It’s an average Will Ferrell comedy, nothing more.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why do Russian oil bosses keep dying?
Under the Radar There have been 'at least 50' mysterious deaths of energy company executives since Putin ordered Ukraine invasion
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The insides and outsides of Helsinki's energetic art scene
The Week Recommends Finland's capital has an admirable mix of street art and museums
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'We have witnessed firsthand how health and civics intersect'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published