Two rival politicians compete to win an election to represent their small North Carolina congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.4/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Metacritic: 50
TMDB: 5.8/10
Director
Jay Roach
Production
Location Gourmet, Gary Sanchez Productions, Everyman Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Baker, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox, Karen Maruyama, Grant Goodman, Kya Haywood, Randall D. Cunningham, Madison Wolfe, Thomas Middleditch, Josh Lawson, Heather Lawless, Jack McBrayer, Elizabeth Diane Wells, Billy Slaughter
Curator Review
Verdict
A broad, sometimes very funny political farce that leans hard on Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis’ absurd rivalry. It has enough sharp one-liners and election-season cynicism to work as a disposable comedy, but the satire is uneven and the jokes can feel repetitive.
Best for
viewers who like broad studio comedies
fans of political satire with low stakes
people in the mood for crude, quotable humor
audiences who enjoy Ferrell/Galifianakis-style absurdity
Skip if
you want incisive or subtle political satire
you dislike crude, juvenile comedy
you need a consistently sharp script
you’re looking for a realistic campaign drama
Overview
The Campaign is built around a simple comic engine: two deeply flawed men turning a congressional race into a public humiliation contest. That premise gives the movie a steady supply of dumb, mean, and occasionally inspired jokes, especially when it leans into the candidates’ vanity and the grotesque machinery of modern campaigning.
Worth noting
The film’s appeal is less in its plot than in its tone. It wants to be a rowdy, R-rated sendup of American politics, and when the performances are allowed to get shamelessly stupid, it lands. The satire is broad rather than surgical, though, so the movie often feels like a sketch stretched to feature length.
Bottom line
If you want a lightweight political comedy with a few memorable bits and a strong sense of absurdity, it’s worth a look. If you’re hoping for something smarter, sharper, or more enduringly funny, this one is likely to feel thin after the best gags have passed.
Top Letterboxd reviews
megan (4★) · 565 likes
“i went to the petting zoo and i... i let the goat lick my penis”
jackieburkhart (4★) · 378 likes
"please come with me to rainbow land where everything is free!"
"ITS COMMUNIST MANIFESTO"
Logan Van Winkle (3★) · 340 likes
It’s wild that the things that happen in this movie seemed over the top and unrealistic just six short years ago.
Justin LaLiberty (3★) · 307 likes
“You shot a man and went up in the polls”
a joke in 2012, utterly believable in 2024
The Greek Geek (3★) · 219 likes
This is exactly how I imagine American politics play out
1999 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (309.8K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus, Philo
One of the best election comedies ever made, with ruthless character-driven satire.