The Campaign - 2 smiles

“The Campaign,” starring Will Farrell and Zach Galifianakis as North Carolina candidates going head-to-head in a congressional election, prefers silly jokes and sight gags to a truly penetrating satire of partisan politics. Although it does possess a bit of topicality in the form of Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow as two super-wealthy, sweatshop-owning brothers who try to rig the election by infusing a Super PAC with loads of money. Their name? It’s Motch (which rhymes with Koch. Get it?).

The movie opens with Farrell’s character, a vapid smoothie named Cam Brady getting ready to address his adoring fans. His topic is ‘America, Jesus and freedom,’ and it’s his three-word answer to every question. Cam has won every election because he had always run unopposed, but this year, the Motch brothers have selected Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) to run against him. Marty is happily married even though he walks with a mincing gait, owns two pugs and talks with a high-pitched lisp. Typically, their campaign devolves into an absurd war of character assassination with novice Marty being advised by the sinister Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott). Both Farrell and Galifianakis are good and I appreciated that this is one Farrell movie that isn’t all stupidity (although there is some). Because Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from The Artist makes a cameo and the pugs are cute, this movie isn’t a total loss. But there’s still a sense that “The Campaign” missed a chance to be smarter and more stinging. 9/14/12