Saturday, August 11, 2012
"The Campaign": Congressional candidates who aren't content with kissing babies in public
After attracting attention personally with my own books and
blogger journalism, I have sometimes been approached about whether I would run
for office, or help other candidates. I
actually did consider running for the Senate under the Libertarian Party in Minnesota
in 2000. But I prefer to research and deploy content, and let others fight
their silly partisan battles.
And silly it is, in the new comedy by Jay Roach, “The
Campaign”. Cam Brady (Will Ferrell),
entrenched GOP congressman in a rural North Carolina district, faces a
challenge from an androgynous (though married-wht-kids) candidate Marty Huggins
(Zach Galifianakis), put up by a couple local CEO’s who have even less scruples
about how much exploitation it takes to feed their bottom lines.
To say that the satire is irreverent and gross is a bit of
an understatement. There are plenty of
R-rated references to bad behavior, and even a couple to body hair
removal. (Marty’s own bod had been
“ruined” by a playground accident, but his portly, petite wife (Sarah Baker)
seems not to care until Cam tests her fidelity.
There’s a scene where Marty dodges a punch from Cam, who
winds up socking a baby. Later, the same thing happens to Uggie, the pooch from
“The Artist”. And the media moguls
(including Wolf Blitzer, playing himself on CNN) love it.
There was a pretty big audience at the AMC Tysons Corner
Saturday afternoon. The audience was
pretty much in the aisles with this one.
The humor, unlike the case with Roach’s HBO non-fiction film “Game Change” (review March 11, 2012),
is pretty much of the toilet paper variety. But, yes, this movie is funny.
I guess this was an appropriate movie to see on the day that Mitt Romney introduced Paul Ryan as his running mate for the 2012 election. I guess Ryan is "cute" (married, three kids); seriously, we need the debate on entitlements.
.
The film, while set in the Tarheel State, was actually shot in Louisiana.
The official site (starts Shockwave) is here.
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