2012. Rated R, 85 minutes.
Cast:
Dylan McDermott
Sarah Baker
Katherine LaNasa
Karen Maruyama
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Middleditch
Cam Brady (Ferrell) is so popular he is about to be elected to
his fifth term as Congressman for the 14th district in North
Carolina. Until he places an errant and sexually explicit phone call, that is.
Sensing the end of Brady’s career, the billionaire Motch brothers (Aykroyd and
Lithgow) set up the naïve Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) as a puppet candidate to
run against him. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue.
If you’re looking for a razor sharp political satire, look
elsewhere. What we have here is the political process taken to its most absurd
extremes. That the two candidates play dirty goes without saying. The depths to
which they sink are the things we imagine possible if the people who ran for
office were allowed to really engage in a no-holds barred campaign. For
instance, the commercials they put together go far beyond the limits of good
taste. This isn't to say there are no merits to this approach to the material.
Even through the zaniness we can catch glimpses of the situations that
obviously inspired the movie. And perhaps it is stinging commentary that there
is absolutely no difference in how the two parties are portrayed.
Your political leanings aside, what will really inform
whether or not you like this film is how you feel about its stars. After all,
they’re both on full blast right from the start. Cam Brady is nothing short of
former Senator John Edwards crossed with Ferrell’s Ricky Bobby. Huggins is a
true Galifianakis creation: an odd, naïve man who really wants to do the right
thing but often has trouble pulling off the trick. To be sure, both men have
their moments. That said, you already know if you find either, neither or both
of them funny.
MY SCORE: 6/10
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