The Campaign (2012)

Well, here we are at another election year, which naturally means we must have more election comedy as well. That usually isn’t good news for anyone who doesn’t like being bashed over the head with the most obvious and broad politically-charged jokes imaginable. Nobody would want to actually offend anyone or make references to things the probably stupid audience won’t get, so this year’s The Campaign’s most powerful punch has nothing to do with politics. It is a literal one, the recipient of which might just be the only thing not yet used in shock comedy.  The movie stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as the only two candidates running for North Carolina governor, who fight against each other until they realize how much they are being manipulated by two very rich men who want to bring Chinese sweat shops over here to save shipping costs. Names are called, liberties are abused, and, yes, punches are pulled.

I really think Jay Roach must have sold his sense of humor to the devil to ensure a long-running career of comedy film-making. How’s that for a paradox? The man who once made Meet the Parents, one of the greatest romantic comedies, and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, one of the greatest guilty pleasures in filmdom, has now created a completely humorless motion picture experience. It’s a somewhat incredible thing to witness. There is a steady barrage of silly things going on throughout the movie’s brief runtime, not a one of which caused me to laugh or even crack a smile. The utter lack of creativity in the script is almost sickening. I don’t have anything at all against stupidity, but there should be at least a little wit and purpose to it. This movie is stupid in a lazy way. The brainless fans of the picture’s unendingly annoying stars will flock to anything they do, so why bother going to the effort to make something lasting?

The people who will like this movie will do so precisely because there is no effort to it. They are also the only ones who could possibly laugh at the impossibly lengthy scenes of what I assume are ad-libbing, all of which prove that the stars have no logical business being famous. I know that Galifianakis was a funny newcomer in The Hangover, but what has he done since then to warrant the following he has? What has Ferrell ever done that was worthy of anyone’s respect? Ever? That may be a little unfair and biased, but it baffles me that so many people think that something like The Campaign is a good time at the movies.  I watched it without ever laughing, sighing, rolling my eyes, or shifting uneasily. It was such a thoroughly pointless thing that it never gave me a reason to react in any way, not even in disgust.  To call it a waste of time and one of the worst movies of the year would give it a significance it doesn’t deserve. Just ignore it and maybe it’ll go away.

3/10