Saturday, August 25, 2012

Cruel, callous ‘Campaign’

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis’ team-up guarantees hilarity, and there certainly is humor to be had, even if punchlines and silly scenarios have been telegraphed. In “The Campaign,” they play rivals vying for congressman, a pair of distinctly dissimilar buffoons who resort to dirty tactics during campaign season.

Running for re-election, Cam Brady (Ferrell) is the scandal-involved and unapologetic cretin, while Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is a dedicated but weird tour guide. Groomed by rich sibling king-makers (John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd), Marty is pitted against the hopelessly boorish Cam.

Directed by Jay Roach, who has “Austin Powers” films under his belt, “The Campaign” can get you chuckling at crude and lewd jokes. In that skewed reality, characters get away with the dumbest or the most unbelievable things, and you accept it. At least most of the time.

Some situations really get absurd. However, the characters’ escalating enmity reaches an unsurprisingly reasonable and redemptive resolution. Ferrell and Galifianakis make their characters consistently despicable and bizarre, respectively, the contrasting personalities riotously combustible when together.

The anticipated “Salamat!” from the trailer isn’t there in the final cut, but Cam’s short, smarmy speech to Filipino carnival employees is intact. There’s a cast of talented actors here; aside form the aforementioned ones, Dylan McDermott and Brian Cox make their roles memorable. But the unexpected, well-deserved laughs go to Karen Maruyama as the talented maid Mrs. Yao.

‘The Campaign” will be in Philippine cinemas starting August 29. 

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