THE CAMPAIGN

year: 2012 cast: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Aykroyd, Dylan McDermott rating: **

Trying to spell or pronounce Zach Galifianakis's last name is as confusing as his character Marty Huggins, who at one point is referred to as a hybrid of Richard Simmons and a Hobbit. Luckily, Will Ferrell’s Cam Brady, a cross between Mitt Romney (hair of steel) and Bill Clinton (libido of a jackrabbit) is a little more understandable: especially in a film about politicians.

Brady is a "Safe Seat" Representative of a North Carolina district up against the weird and wimpy Huggins. Backed by two crooked moguls, carbon copies of The Duke Brothers from TRADING PLACES, Huggins is anything but phony. It takes assertive political advisor Dylan McDermott to turn him into everything he’s against.

The problem with THE CAMPAIGN is we’re not quite sure what Huggins really stands for to make his inevitable steely transition make sense – and the jokes aren’t very funny. Not even Ferrell's constant attempts as the comfortably glib jerk pull through. The best parts, occurring in montages about each politician trying to win votes, were shown in the trailers, so there’s nothing fresh to stand behind.

If anyone deserves your vote it’s Jason Sudeikis as Brady’s mellow, faithful campaign advisor. He at least seems like a real person in a movie centering on two comic actors acting like cartoons.