Hollywood Product: ‘The Campaign’

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis’s hilarious rivalry turns the campaign trail into a trail of tears. (Of laughter.)

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GENRE: Political spoof

THE PITCH: Washington insiders The Motch Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) throws their clout and cash behind small-town ninny Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis) to oust scandal-plagued incumbent congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) and take control of a small North Carolina district.

BEST LINE: “You looked like Richard Simmons crapped out a goddamn hobbit!” Marty’s macho, politically savvy father (Brian Cox) rails at his effete son. A scene with Marty’s family sharing their darkest secrets has too many great one-liners to count.

WORST LINE: “This is the first time I’ve worn a Yamaha!” Marty exclaims at a Jewish temple campaign event. The Campaign’s cast sells many wonderfully stupid lines, but that’s not one of them.

MONEY SHOTS: As a political satire, The Campaign features hilarious negative ads, including a photoshopped version of mustached Marty in Muslim garb, wearing a bomber vest and giving the finger. Cam’s highly public mishap when attempting to kiss a baby becomes a viral gaffe (and the obvious CGI tweaks keep the man-on-baby injury from looking horribly realistic). Cam suffers oversized side effects from a venomous bite at a snake-handling congregation. Cam takes an ill-advised joyride, captured on a patrol car’s video recorder.