The Campaign (film)

The Campaign is a 2012 American political satire comedy film directed by Jay Roach, written by Shawn Harwell and Chris Henchy and stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two North Carolinians vying for a seat in Congress. The film was released on August 10, 2012 to favourable reviews from critics.

The Campaign
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJay Roach
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Adam McKay
  • Chris Henchy
  • Shawn Harwell
Starring
  • Will Ferrell
  • Zach Galifianakis
  • Jason Sudeikis
  • Dylan McDermott
  • Katherine LaNasa
  • Sarah Baker
  • John Lithgow
  • Dan Aykroyd
  • Brian Cox
Music byTheodore {Shapiro[1]
CinematographyJim Denault
Edited byCraig Alpert
Jon Poll
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • August 4, 2012 (2012-08-04) (TCFF)
  • August 10, 2012 (2012-08-10) (United States)
Running time
85 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$95 million[3]
Box office$104.9 million[4]

Plot

Democratic Congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) of North Carolina's fictional 14th District is the incumbent, running for his fifth term unopposed. His campaign is damaged by the revelation of his affair with one of his supporters, when Cam accidentally leaves a sexually explicit voice message on a local family's answering machine.

The corrupt businessman brothers Glenn and Wade Motch (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) use this opportunity to convince Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), tourism director for the town of Hammond and son of one of their associates, Raymond Huggins, to run against Cam on the Republican ticket, as part of a plan to profit from dealings with a Chinese company. Cam at first underestimates Marty and humiliates him by playing a video biography highlighting potentially embarrassing aspects of Marty's life. The Motch brothers then hire Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott) to be Marty's campaign manager. Wattley reinvents Marty as a successful entrepreneur and family man. Marty's popularity rises due to his effective campaign while Cam's is further damaged when he accidentally punches a baby when intending to hit Marty. Cam later runs a campaign portraying Marty as an Al Qaeda terrorist, and Marty exposes Cam as a fake Christian by asking him to recite the Lord's Prayer, which he fails to do. Cam attempts to restore his religious image by visiting a church of snake handlers, but he gets bitten by a snake. A video of the bite is leaked into the Internet and goes viral, increasing Cam's popularity.

When Cam's son plans to slander his competition for class president, Cam realizes he has set a bad example and visits Marty to make peace. While drunk, Cam tells Marty that he originally became a politician to help people, citing that as class president he had a dangerous, rusty slide removed from the playground. After Cam leaves, Wattley convinces Marty to call the police and report Cam for driving while drunk. Cam is arrested and his campaign is again damaged. Marty later airs a TV ad of Cam's son addressing Marty as "dad". Cam gets revenge on Marty by seducing his neglected wife Mitzi and recording the act. The released sex tape humiliates the Huggins family and causes Cam's campaign manager, Mitch, to abandon him. Marty retaliates by shooting Cam in the leg on a hunting trip, increasing his own popularity.

As the election nears, Marty meets with the Motch brothers and learns of their plans to sell Hammond to their Chinese business partner and turn the town into a factory complex. Marty realizes he has been used and rejects the brothers' support, leading them to defect to Cam's side. Marty meanwhile reconciles with his family.

On election day, Cam's victory appears certain until Marty exposes the Motch brothers' intent and promises to preserve Hammond if elected. Cam still wins and remains congressman due to rigged voting machines owned by the Motch brothers. While Cam gloats, Marty shows his large scars to Cam and reveals that he looked up to Cam in school for getting rid of the dangerous slide. Realizing he has strayed from his true objectives as a politician, Cam withdraws from the election and Marty wins by default. Cam earns back Mitch's respect, and Marty later appoints him his chief of staff.

Six months later, Marty and Cam expose the Motch brothers, who are called to appear before Congress. The brothers point out that everything they did is legal under Citizens United v. FEC, but they are arrested for their association with Wattley, who is actually an international fugitive.

Cast
Cameos as themselves

Production

Principal photography began November 14, 2011, and continued through February 2012 in New Orleans, Hammond, and on the West Bank.[5]

Music

The Green Day song "99 Revolutions", from the album ¡Tré!, plays over the end credits.

Themes

The film lampoons modern American elections and the influence of corporate money.[6] It directly satirizes the Koch brothers with another pair of ultra-wealthy siblings: the Motch brothers.[7] The film also alluded to the British Conservative Party's New Labour, New Danger campaign.[8]

Release

The film was released on August 10, 2012.[9] The Blu-Ray and DVD release was on October 30, 2012.[10]

Reception

Box office

The Campaign grossed $86.9 million in the U.S. and Canada and $18 million in other territories, for a total gross of $104.9 million against a budget of $95 million.[11]

The film grossed $26.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind The Bourne Legacy ($38.1 million).[12]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 66% based on 204 reviews, with an average rating of 5.94/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Its crude brand of political satire isn't quite as smart or sharp as one might hope in an election year, but The Campaign manages to generate a sufficient number of laughs thanks to its well-matched leads."[13] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film an A- and described it as "one of the best comedies of the year" where "the material is offensively funny, but the laughs are very consistent".[16]

gollark: They *could* if they control the last pick, yes, hmmm.
gollark: Generate the outcome deterministically from the hashes of the inputs or something.
gollark: Perhaps this technology could somehow be adapted to the raffle.
gollark: That would make it explicitly net negative.
gollark: There are three outcomes, roughly:- it is fair, you win: you gain the total money- it is fair, you do not win: you lose what you spent- it is biased/evil/infohazardous and you lose money: you lose what you spent

References
  1. "Theodore Shapiro to Score 'The Campaign'". Fimmusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  2. "THE CAMPAIGN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  3. "The Campaign (2012)". The-Numbers.com.
  4. "The Campaign (2012)". Box Office Mojo. 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  5. AP Photo / Victoria Will. "Will Ferrell comedy 'Dog Fight' looking for a few good extras ahead of New Orleans shoot". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  6. "Politics gets slapped around in 'Campaign'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  7. "Koch brothers fire back at 'Campaign' star Zach Galifianakis for calling them 'creepy'". NY Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  8. "Hilton's demon eyes are perfect for Hollywood - Diary - News - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  9. "Jason Sudeikis Throws Himself Into 'Dog Fight' (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  10. Gary Dretzka (October 30, 2012). "The DVD Wrapup: Campaign, Americano, This Waltz, Ruby Sparks, Upstairs Downstairs ... More". Movie City News. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
  11. "The Campaign". Box Office Mojo.
  12. "Domestic 2012 Weekend 32". Box Office Mojo.
  13. "The Campaign (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  14. "The Campaign Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  15. "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Campaign" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  16. "The Campaign Review". RichardRoeper.com. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
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