The Campaign (film)
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The Campaign | |
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Directed by | Jay Roach |
Produced by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Screenplay by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Story by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Music by | Theodore Shapiro[1] |
Cinematography | Jim Denault |
Edited by | Craig Alpert |
Production
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
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85 minutes[2] 95 minutes[3] (Extended cut) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $95 million[4] |
Box office | $104.9 million[5] |
The Campaign is a 2012 American political comedy film starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two North Carolinians vying for a seat in Congress. The screenplay was written by Shawn Harwell and Chris Henchy, and directed by Jay Roach. The film is the last performance of Uggie as himself, before his death in 2015.
Contents
Plot
Democratic Congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) of North Carolina's fictional 14th District is running for his fifth term unopposed. However 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 businessmen brothers Glenn and Wade Motch 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 Marty's dimwitted nature. The Motch brothers then hire Tim Wattley to be Marty's campaign manager. Tim 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. A drunken 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 Motch brothers' support. The Motch brothers offer Cam their support instead to preserve their plans. Marty meanwhile reconciles with his family.
On election day, Cam's victory appears to be certain until Marty comes forward and 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' scandals and the brothers are called to appear before Congress. The Motch brothers point out that everything they did is legal under Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, but they are arrested for their association with Wattley, who is actually an international fugitive.
Cast
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- Will Ferrell as Camden "Cam" Brady
- Zach Galifianakis as Martin Sylvester "Marty" Huggins
- Jason Sudeikis as Mitch Wilson
- Katherine LaNasa as Rose Brady
- Dylan McDermott as Tim Wattley
- John Lithgow as Glenn Motch
- Dan Aykroyd as Wade Motch
- Brian Cox as Raymond Huggins
- Sarah Baker as Mitzi Huggins
- Grant Goodman as Clay Huggins
- Kya Haywood as Dylan Huggins
- Billy Slaughter as Dermot
- Karen Maruyama as Mrs. Yao
- Taryn Terrell as Janette
- Josh Lawson as Tripp Huggins
- P. J. Byrne as Rick
- Tzi Ma as Mr. Zheng
- Jack McBrayer as Mr. Mendenhall
- Kate Lang Johnson as Shana St. Croix
- Scott A Martin as Wes Talager
- Steve Tom as Representative Ben Langley
- Seth Morris as Confession Husband
- Nick Smith as Courtroom cameraman
- John Goodman (uncredited) as Scott Talley
- Cameos as themselves
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Production
Principal photography began November 14, 2011, and continued through February 2012 in New Orleans, Hammond, and on the West Bank.[6]
Music
The Green Day song '99 Revolutions', from the ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy, plays over the end credits.
Themes
The film lampoons modern American elections and the influence of corporate money.[7] It directly satirizes John Edwards as well as the Koch brothers with another pair of ultra-wealthy siblings: the Motch brothers.[8] The film also alluded to the British Conservative Party's New Labour, New Danger campaign.[9]
Release
The film was released on August 10, 2012.[10] The DVD release was on October 30, 2012.[11] It was on The Movie Network in 2013
Reception
Box office
The Campaign grossed $86.9 million in North America and $18 million in other territories for a total gross of $104.9 million, against a budget of $95 million.[12]
The film grossed $26.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind The Bourne Legacy ($38.1 million).[13]
Critical reception
The Campaign received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 64%, based on 195 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "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."[14] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 50 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15]
Richard Roeper awarded 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]
References
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- ↑ http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/movies/rivals-2012
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- ↑ "Politics gets slapped around in 'Campaign'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ↑ "Koch brothers fire back at 'Campaign' star Zach Galifianakis for calling them 'creepy'". NY Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
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- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rivals.htm
- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2012&wknd=32&p=.htm
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- 2012 films
- English-language films
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Official website not in Wikidata
- 2010s comedy films
- American films
- American comedy films
- American political satire films
- Films about elections
- Films directed by Jay Roach
- Films set in North Carolina
- Films shot in Louisiana
- Films shot in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Gary Sanchez Productions films
- Warner Bros. films