"The Campaign", politics can be a fun mess!

The Campaign

A political satire is always a complicated film to do. Where do you establish the limits of your jokes? What message (if any) do you want to give? Weight or fun? "The Campaign" has a clear goal: aims to be an unpretentious film to make you laugh.

In my opinion, that's the key to enjoy this film. If you are looking for substance, this is not the place. Politics are not taken seriously here. It's like seeing a flesh & bone episode of Family Guy on American elections. It's also a very unbalanced film. But it does have a healthy dose of spite and a noteworthy amount of hilarious (brutal too, some audiences could find it a bit "too much" for their tastes) moments.

Sure, with that level of physical and verbal comedy, main characters have to be up for their task. And granted they are. Will Ferrell plays a extremely crazy and dumb role, as long-term congressman for one of the biggest districts of North Carolina Cam Brady, while Zach Galifianiakis, as the naive Marty Huggins, is quite brilliant as their impossible rival. There are no sides taken by director Jay Roach here. Democrats and Republicans are equally ridiculed, completely out of their minds, and ready to do what it takes to win the elections. If any, the message of the film is here: politicians are the mere puppets of corrupted CEOs, who are the ones that take the decisions (no spoiling).

Another very positive and "healthy" issue is that "The Campaign" also leaves room to criticise, with sharpness, the whole election system, the role of the media, and voters. Yes, campaigns are phony. Yes, shameful campaign ads and political mudslinging are common policies. In that sense, the film only exaggerates (to the maximum) the machinations and backstabbing among the candidates. With some amusing results. But, if we all know, why don't we try to do something about it?

But as I said before, "The Campaign" is not here to offer solutions. As a matter of fact, and at least to me, their only regrettable mistake is its "happy ending". If you have been building a no-hold-barriers lampooning of real politics, you shouldn't close the movie with an "out of the blue" final message that there's always hope. It would have been more much striking and coherent to leave the audience with the feeling that no matter who wins, we the citizens lose.

Anyway, "The Campaign" is not a great movie or a mind-changer for sure, but I'm also convinced it won't leave you indifferent. At least it will make you laugh.

SCORE: 6/10

"The Hangover Part II", wilder, crazier, bigger, bolder...

The Hangover Part II

...But by no means better. Director Todd Phillips and the whole "wolfpack" wanted to repeat the succesful formula of the engaging and fresh first movie, but they do so without really adding anything new (aside from some stunning scenery of Thailand) to the original "The Hangover". But by just repeating it, they loose some part of the charm, and lot of the fun.

The plot is quite simple. Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married in Thailand. So along with Doug (Justin Bartha), Phil (Bradley Cooper), Teddy (brother of Stu's fianceé) and, regretfully, Alan (Zach Galifianakis), they enjoy a quiet night previous to awakening in the midst of a catasthropic room remembering nothing. Again.

So, Phil, Stu, and Alan, are back into a run-against-time race, but this time the troubles and adventures of our gang take place in Bangkok, while they try to find Teddy before Stu's weeding. And they more they know about the night, the crazier the situation turns. If you thought the first "Hangover" was wild, you have seen nothing yet.

This hyper-vitaminated and exotic version of "The Hangover", have some hilarious moments (majority of them involving Alan), but they are few compared with its first part. Besides, the movie is never able of escaping from the parameters of its predecesor. Unfortunately, director Todd Philips is not interested in offering anything else except a sequel. But the formula is obviously too stretched towards the middle section of the film, and despite Mr. Chow's bigger role (not really funny as he has a quite short palette of gags) and the apparition of Paul Giamatti, there's not much to offer. Worse, as you are forced to compare, there's not much to laugh about.

Its easy to understand that director, producer and film cast were eager to put a second part on theathers. But although the "The Hangover Part II" is a pleasant and fun ride, now the threat of making a franchise of it (why not? the producers may be asking themselves, Alan is still single, so the premise for a third chapter is easy) is evidently there, and it seriously damages the quality of the final product. Hope they think about it.

SCORE: 5,75/10