‘Campaign’ is a fence-sitter

By ROGER MOORE
McCLATCHY NEWS SERVICE

We’re used to politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths. “The Campaign” is a political comedy that attempts that feat.

It’s a rude and crude farce that takes broad swipes at the political system and the people who manipulate it. It’s not subtle about attacking those alleged election-buying billionaires the Koch brothers (called the Motch brothers here).

The campaigners themselves are basically puppets — one a crass, lazy Democrat given to giving in to his basest instincts, the other a startlingly ill-informed Republican whose idealism gives way to a cynical makeover to make him more presentable to the North Carolina voters he’s appealing to.

And the voters themselves are ranting, red-faced rubes who can’t stop fulminating long enough to realize that calling the other guy’s pug dogs “communists” is about the silliest thing ever.

But this R-rated comedy, directed by Jay Roach, tries to have it both ways. It straddles the “fair and balanced” fence, making the naive, effeminate Republican (Zach Galifianakis) an idealist backed by the evil Motch brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow, doing a “Trading Places”-evil-rich-siblings thing) and the Democrat (Will Ferrell) a boozy, womanizing cynic whose idealism evaporated in high school.

The worst thing about the Republican is his stupidity.