The Campaign

Screenwriters Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell do some moderately satirical riffing on topical election-year matters—campaign finance reform, attack ads, focus groups and buzz words, market-minded electioneering, etc.—but The Campaign is chiefly a series of comic opportunities for its stars, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Airheaded Cam Brady (Ferrell) is the incumbent candidate and doofus Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is the last-minute challenger in a North Carolina congressional district where Brady is accustomed to running unopposed. John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd play the superwealthy Motch brothers (sound familiar?), who are ready to bankroll whichever candidate can be most profitably bought. Brady’s chronically rampant libido gets him in trouble with his backers, and it’s their money that throws Huggins unexpectedly into the race. The ensuing campaign is a mostly funny mash-up of negative ads, televised screw-ups, extravagant image-tweaking and spin management. And the candidates’ respective antics have center stage, there are some nicely populated sideshows developing with several of the secondary characters. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R.