Movie review: The Campaign **

Stars: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis and Jason Sudeikis
Director: Jay Roach
Rated: R
Showing: Speciality Cinema week of Friday, September 14. For more information call 292-2135.
Tickets: Buy tickets online
Runtime: 85 minutes
Comedy

There’s definitely an incisively funny movie to be made about the insanity of political elections.

The Campaign is not that movie.

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis trade barbs and sling mud, but the humour is inconsistent and the political satire lacks bite. Certainly a movie about a nasty political campaign is timely, but this one degenerates into predictable silliness and occasional raunch.

“It’s a mess” is the campaign slogan of Marty Huggins, played by Galifianakis. He’s referring to the state of government. But he might as well be describing the movie in which he co-stars.

Huggins is the out-of-nowhere challenger to longtime incumbent Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell). The two are duking it out over a small North Carolina district.

Brady is the kind of guy who’s more concerned with his coiffure than his ideology. 

He spouts catchphrases that don’t add up to a coherent sentence: “America. Jesus. Freedom.”

But the married Brady makes a stupid mistake — calling the wrong number and leaving a lewd message for his girlfriend. His poll ratings plummet.

The good-natured Huggins works at the local tourism office and has been a disappointment to his wealthy father (Brian Cox). His influential dad has disreputable ties to the unsavoury Motch brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow). They decide Huggins will be the ideal puppet for their dastardly “insourcing” scheme of importing a Chinese sweatshop to their North Carolina district.

The filmmakers aimed to make a smart sendup of the political process, but The Campaign only occasionally hits its cynical mark.

Some of the best scenes involve Huggins’ stylish campaign consultant Tim Wattley, played by Dylan McDermott with impeccable comic timing.

The film’s funniest moment has already been highlighted in the ads. Brady unintentionally socks a baby in the jaw as he and Huggins rush to do their candidates’ toadying.

That scene is a hoot, but subversive moments like these are rare in a movie mired in lackluster humour and toothless spoofing.

Next attraction: Trouble with the Curve