The Campaign

It does not happen very often, but 'The Campaign' was one of the few occasions where I laughed at the film's trailer every time I saw it. Considering how often I go to the cinema and have seen the trailer, that is an amazing feat.
Director Jay Roach has been working in television lately, directing films about real life political events. Therefore it seemed appropriate that he direct this film about a political campaign. Jay's knowledge of real life politics makes this film seem so real despite all the silly behaviour that is going on. The plot of politicians trying to get cheap Chinese labour to be used in the USA may seem outrageous, but with the way some politicians behave it seems totally plausible. The film brilliantly uses this plot to parody the way corporations influence government to help increase their profits. There is lots of crazy behaviour by the lead characters but underneath is a very clever message about the state of the American government. Jay manages to keep the film moving along a nicely brisk pace so it does not seem to drag. Something that lot of comedies are guilty of these days. I also liked how he changed some of the funny lines used in the trailer so you don't have them repeated in the film. Which means that not all of the good stuff was used in the trailer.    
Stars Will Ferrell and Zac Galifianakis were both producers of the film which indicates that they had a hand in the film's development and the creation of their characters. I think that is the secret to its greatness. The plot might be fairly conventional and one which we have seen countless times before in films about the race for political office, but in this film it is the great characters which makes it funny. Cam Brady is a typically pompous politician that you see a lot of in real life. There are certain exaggerations made for comedic effect but he still feels fairly real. You can imagine a few real politicians behaving the way he does behind the scenes. Marty Huggins is his polar opposite, not being from the political sphere and in public life. So far away to the point of being very introverted and socially awkward. Which is why the clash of these two polar opposites is so hilarious. I particularly loved the voices Will and Zac use for their characters. They helped add an extra bit of silliness to proceedings.
Will Farrell is not only one of the best comedic actors he is also an excellent actor as well. While not all of his performances are great, he does quite a lot of good ones. For me this is one of his best. He knows how to play over blown characters that think they are better than they are really well. While he does resort to many of his trademark moves it is still hilarious.  Zac Galifianakis is also a great comedic actor and I loved him here too. He is hilarious and he plays Marty so well. There is one scene where his family are making confessions to him which gave me the biggest laugh I've had in a film in a while. The rest of the cast do an excellent job as well but are mainly there as straight people to the silliness of Will and Zac. I particularly liked Katherine LaNasa as Cam's wife. She had so many little subtleties to her performance which made it that extra bit funny. I also liked Karen Maruyama as a maid in a very racist situation.
I saw this film with only a few people in the audience and I still laughed out loud quite a lot. I think in this day and age that is a great sign for a comedy that you don't need the support of anyone around you to find something funny. Highly recommended.