The Campaign
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: August 10, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
18
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAug 8, 2012
Perhaps the best thing about the film is that it doesn't let those other players in the political process off the hook: the voters. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineJames RocchiAug 7, 2012
Think of it as someone making a peanut butter and chocolate swirl of Mad magazine and The New Yorker - two unique tastes making one great treat. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliAug 9, 2012
The resultant spoofery is nonpartisan, or at least vague - we never learn which of these flesh-pressing idiots is the Republican and which is the Democrat - and raucous in its send-ups of the moral, financial and sexual peccadilloes of the common political animal. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleAug 9, 2012
Still, though it's crude and juvenile in ways that makes you vaguely ashamed at laughing so much, The Campaign is versatile enough to sneak in a good shot or two at the American political system. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsAug 8, 2012
Fortunately, it's funny enough that it doesn't have to be subtle. In fact, subtlety would just get in the way. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAug 8, 2012
Would a Republican enjoy this movie as much as a Democrat? Possibly. Party affiliations mean nothing to the characters, nor does the plot approach them. Then why are Huggins and Brady both Republicans? I'll save you the trouble. It's because Hollywood is run by a lot of rich liberals, right? Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 8, 2012
The Campaign is below-the-Beltway humor, stretching obvious targets to raunchy extremes. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 5, 2012
Roach, who also counts such lowbrow laffers as "Austin Powers" and "Meet the Fockers" on his resume, manages to keep things broad without sacrificing smarts. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyAug 9, 2012
Wrapping the whole thing in a sentimental ending turns it into a fraud. The Campaign might have been truly -- and appropriately -- scabrous in other hands; those of the "South Park" guys or Mike Judge, say. But director Jay Roach and writers Shawn Harwell and Chris Henchy play it safe and down the middle. No actual political contributors or candidates need fear harm. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Siri AgrellAug 10, 2012
A political parody that is almost as ridiculous as actual American politics. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigAug 9, 2012
"It's a mess" is the campaign slogan of Marty Huggins, played by Galifianakis. He's referring to the state of government. But he might as well be describing the movie in which he co-stars. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 9, 2012
The jokes never go deep, the toothless bites at the system leave no marks. It's only the wild-card energy of Ferrell and Galifianakis that keeps you on the ticket. Read full review
60
EmpireSimon BraundSep 24, 2012
The Campaign gets by on its stars' comic compatibility and a relentless stream of jokes, many of which are laugh-out-loud funny. The only real downer is the ending, which feels tacked on like a hanging chad. Read full review
60
Total FilmKen McIntyreSep 1, 2012
Although only slightly more outrageous than reality, The Campaign is a funny, pacy peek behind the political curtain. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottAug 10, 2012
No, it's not a perfect movie, given how dangerously close it comes to running out of quality third-act punchlines before you're liable to have run out of Sno-caps and Raisinettes. Also, some of the biggest names in the supporting cast -- John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd, specifically -- are all but wasted. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 9, 2012
Rude, rowdy and raunchy, The Campaign gleefully skewers the current sad state of American politics. With a target that tempting, it's not surprising that this cynical and funny film hits more often than it misses. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 9, 2012
Like the politicians it skewers, it knows the real winner is the stupidity, stupid. Read full review
60
MovielineAlison WillmoreAug 8, 2012
Ferrell and Galifianakis both do what they've proven they can do so well in the past, while McDermott, clad in all black, is surprisingly good in a comedic role. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 7, 2012
There's no suspense, even as Galifianakis's bone-dry earnestness sometimes kicks the movie into a realm of stealth drama. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 12, 2012
Roach is too stiff a director to give Ferrell room to romp. Bits like the one in which he's challenged to recite "The Lord's Prayer" needed extra zigs and zags instead of variations on the same joke. A looser director like Adam McKay (Step Brothers) might have created a happier climate for improv. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 9, 2012
Too soft and silly to be satire, too upbeat to be a cautionary tale, the film is a fun-house fable that both exaggerates and understates the absurdities of our democracy in this contentious election year. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaAug 9, 2012
Relying on improv-y riffing and watch-them-coming-from-down-the-block-and-around-the-corner sight gags, The Campaign is intermittently amusing, but more often just interminable. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 9, 2012
Tends toward the broadest possible takes on slapstick, sophomoric sexuality and post-"Hangover" raunch. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 9, 2012
It's just another happily idiotic Will Ferrell comedy, ably directed by Jay Roach ("Meet the Parents," "Dinner for Schmucks") and tossing its bawdy jokes at the side of the barn. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 9, 2012
As with nearly everything else in The Campaign, a little goes a long way, until it finally just goes on too long, period. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineBill WeberAug 9, 2012
A lumpy spoof of electoral mudslinging that offers some bracing bipartisan contempt amid the lowbrow, labored slapstick. Read full review
50
Village VoiceKarina LongworthAug 7, 2012
Like past-his-peak Perot, The Campaign is basically a footnote, a goof on our broken political system that's good for a certain novelty, but as a challenge to the dominant order? It's ultimately impotent. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenAug 5, 2012
While leads Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are amusingly on point as a pair of mud-slinging contenders for Congress, the platform is a wobbly political satire that flip-flops chaotically between clever and crass, never finding a sturdy comedic footing. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerAug 12, 2012
Potty jokes and bawdy gross-outs predominate, and the few good laughs are swamped by the overall laughlessness. Read full review
40
TimeMary PolsAug 9, 2012
Four minutes of Bush on SNL is just right, but 85-minutes of Cam Brady feels like a lot, even with a strong supporting cast that includes Jason Sudeikis as Cam's campaign manager and Katherine LaNasa as Cam's picture-perfect, but mean-as-nails wife. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 9, 2012
Because The Campaign tries to say something about truth vs. hogwash in election season, it's doubly sad the efforts of screenwriters Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell come to so little. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 9, 2012
Instead of biting wit, though, the movie settles for sketch humor, standard-brand raunch and toothless slapstick that trivializes everything it touches. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAug 8, 2012
If ever America needed Hollywood to crank out a comedic antidote to the toxic political madness that has engulfed our nation, now is the time. Unfortunately, this loopy, muddled, and ultimately insulting Campaign isn't it. It feels more like an extended Saturday Night Live-meets-FunnyOrDie.com castoff than an actual comedic commentary on American politics. Read full review
12
New York PostKyle SmithAug 10, 2012
Put it this way: Jimmy Carter was funnier than this movie. Read full review
0
The PlaylistGabe ToroAug 8, 2012
The Campaign is insidiously stupid, a laugh-free water balloon lazily tossed at the institution of politics, and one that makes "Semi-Pro" look like a lost Robert Altman film. Read full review
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