The Campaign is the funniest movie with the strongest hair you’ll ever see. I love adding this movie to a candidate-research party for 2018 because in this movie, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are 2 candidates for House of Representatives going head to head, not 2 candidates for President! It really highlights the importance of voting during the midterms!

I find it helpful to tackle my ballot research with a friend or 2 in tow – usually they live closeby and have the same candidates to choose from. Maybe you guys can make this a tradition before every voting day – primaries, midterms, you name it!

You provide:

• A table with chairs to sit around on
• Extra pen and paper
• Wifi

They bring:

• Their ballot
• A laptop/phone for research

Spend about an hour doing research and making choices (I especially look for if a candidate is endorsed by Planned Parenthood – very important!). If you want to mail in your ballot right then, do so! Afterward, treat yourselves to this very funny movie (available to download on amazon, google, and itunes) and some popcorn.

After watching The Campaign, you might be inspired to up your game and stump for your local womens-rights supporting candidate. Candidates need our help!

Below I’ve shared some of my favorite scenes from the movie, and provided insightful commentary (just kidding, no insights, just quotes and mostly my OMG HAHAHAHAH reactions)

[SPOILER ALERT]

This is the PERFECT quote to begin the movie ZOMG. And the MUSIC! Jesus Christ. Perfect.
(Not so perfect: Ross Perot was not a Presidential Candidate in 1988 whoops!)

“How’s my hair?” “Strong. Real strong.”
Jason Sudeikis is PERFECT in this movie. Really, all the supporting cast is perfect and serve to create a ridiculous meaningful world around Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) and Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis)

Within the first few lines of dialogue, Cam Brady is introduced to a crowd as the candidate “running unopposed” – this is perfect b/c in movie-land we ALL know what this means – his perfect unopposed life won’t stay perfect and unopposed for long! Movies often start with a main character that has hit rock bottom, but a cousin of rock bottom is “ennui” or “inertia” – they haven’t moved or needed to move for a very long time–this is Cam Brady.

Maybe my favorite line of the entire movie: “I come from humble beginnings. My father, worked with his hands as head stylist of Vidal Sassoon.” ROFL – if you think about it EVERYONE works with their hands – writers, heart surgeons…

What do you think of their North Carolina accents?

Katherine LaNasa is perfect as Cam Brady’s wife Rose Brady. I love the costumes too – exactly what a winning candidate’s family is supposed to look like, it’s so perfect it’s comedic.

OK, and now onto one of the best constructed jokes in the movie, a montage of Cam Brady campaigning to different groups and telling EACH of them that they are this nation’s backbone!

“Veterans are this nation’s backbone”
(set-up of joke)

“Farmers are this nation’s backbone”
(this is set-up but ALREADY funny because wow, of course, this politician is gonna like and tell EVERYONE they are this nation’s backbone! Also, check out the goats messing around in the background.)

“Schools is this nation’s backbone”
(continuation of joke, but also inherent joke of him being in an educator’s space and using wrong grammar)

“Audio installation specialists and window tinters are this nation’s backbone!”
(frankly, I’m already dying laughing here)

“Filipino tilt-a-whirl operators are this nation’s backbone!”
(#slay. Also, this movie actually has Asian-Americans in it!!! You’ll see more later. #representation)

“Hey Jared, let’s let the machine take one… for God.”
Actor Jack McBrayer makes an appearance and he’s pitch perfect as the head of a Jesus-loving family. I love the color and lighting of this – it’s so Norman Rockwell and 70s ochre tones – it definitely says sweet and innocent (and easily offended) American family, i.e. the worst family Cam Brady could call in horny drunkenness.

“My brother and I are job creators.”
The perfect parody of the Koch Brothers. The real life Koch brothers were NOT pleased by this movie, here’s one of many articles about it: This Will Ferrell Movie Pisses Off the Koch Brothers.

Within seconds of meeting Marty we know exactly who he is, while CRACKING UP.
“‘Can’t’s the real ‘C’ word!”
“You’re hysterical Travis”
“Just one person signed in.” “What? Are you serious? What happened to the 8th grade field trip?” “I guess the kids would just rather go to class.”
“She got a crush on you, Marty.” “She’s gonna have to get in line.”
And the way he STOPS STOP STOPS the entire tour just to pick up a phone call from Dad. You get the relationships right away.

“If you’re still holding a grudge because I wore Crocs to Mom’s funeral, like I’ve told you a thousand times, I’m sorry.”
OK, maybe THIS is my favorite line.
Also, whenever I watch this is in a group, the cut to this composition of him being perched centered and high on the boat never fails to get a laugh.

”From now on you don’t own pugs, you own a Golden Retriever and a chocolate Labrador – two of the highest polling dogs. One of them will be named Sargeant, the other Scout. They will wear bandanas.”
Marty’s not happy with the changes, and his wife protests too. Her objections are almost hidden in the background, but darkly funny:
“We can not have guns in here. Are you crazy?! Dylan is prone to intense bouts of violence.”

This moment is comedy gold.

Pugs are inherently funny, plus them polling badly as “Chinese commie dogs” makes them funnier in The Campaign. But the writers made them symbolic too of Marty’s character and inner strength!
“Well pugs were bred for short snouts. So they can lock in and take down lions.” “I find that hard to believe.” “You can google it, it’s worth a google.” Marty is an underdog, and like his pugs, is often underestimated.

“Aiding and abetting a known international fugitive. This is Tim Wattley, aka Leonides Stavos, aka the Greek Butcher aka the Greek Baker, aka the Greek Candlestick Maker, aka Dermot Mulroney.”

Love that they slipped in a Dylan McDermott-Dermot Mulroney joke. Dylan McDermott plays who plays Tim Wattley in this movie. In case you missed it, SNL did a skit about these 2 handsome actors with very similar names: