I confess I am not a huge Will Ferrel fan although I find him watch-able in films which don't completely revolve around him. This was not one of them. I thought I'd give it a go as I love political satire but this was just a really poor display of watered down, repetitive slapstick full of stereotypical characters and scenarios.
To its credit the plot accurately conveyed the joke that is American politics, particularly how it is big business and back handers that are really pulling the strings and making all the big decisions and the typical overplaying of 'family values' and every politicians close personal friend Jesus H Christ, in their campaigns. The sheep voters of course were all too happy to lap it all up and sway their opinion based on the lame speeches and false promises of the candidates.
It was all supposed to be tongue in cheek and satirical but in reality it was just depressing and patronising. I don't need my comedy to be intelligent by any means but the whole thing was just appalling. Honestly I laughed a total of 3 times. Once was at a baby being punched in the face.
It really is just Will Ferrel playing his usual 'I'm an egotistical, air head, a-hole' character, with a slightly different hairstyle. I preferred the guy who played his opponent (Zach Galifianakis), both character wise and performance wise.
One thing that really bugged me about this film was the way that the women were represented. Yes politics is a male dominated environment but apart from a few mute women extras there was only one female who really had more than a few lines and being Asian they were all pretty much jokes about racial stereotyping and she was a maid. The rest of the females were there as sex objects basically. The usual blonde bimbo 'Lewinsky' character, another who was walking around with her nipple accidentally showing, the hot little, supportive wife who actually turns out to be a power hungry, gold digging, cold hearted cow. At one point Will's character seduces the oppositions wife just to smear his character and campaign and of course she is warm hearted and naive so had to be chubby and therefore grateful for his sleaze. Oh and they had one black male speaking part and it was only a couple of lines and he was technically mixed race, in a film set in North Carolina? Yeah okay so a dumb comedy doesn't have a duty or responsibility to represent society accurately but it makes it very clear who this movie is aimed at.
This is jock humour, strictly for Ferrel devotees and I had hoped for more. He really is a one trick pony! Watch the trailer and then move on with your life. Because those are the only good scenes in the whole movie, condensed into a few seconds.
To its credit the plot accurately conveyed the joke that is American politics, particularly how it is big business and back handers that are really pulling the strings and making all the big decisions and the typical overplaying of 'family values' and every politicians close personal friend Jesus H Christ, in their campaigns. The sheep voters of course were all too happy to lap it all up and sway their opinion based on the lame speeches and false promises of the candidates.
It was all supposed to be tongue in cheek and satirical but in reality it was just depressing and patronising. I don't need my comedy to be intelligent by any means but the whole thing was just appalling. Honestly I laughed a total of 3 times. Once was at a baby being punched in the face.
It really is just Will Ferrel playing his usual 'I'm an egotistical, air head, a-hole' character, with a slightly different hairstyle. I preferred the guy who played his opponent (Zach Galifianakis), both character wise and performance wise.
One thing that really bugged me about this film was the way that the women were represented. Yes politics is a male dominated environment but apart from a few mute women extras there was only one female who really had more than a few lines and being Asian they were all pretty much jokes about racial stereotyping and she was a maid. The rest of the females were there as sex objects basically. The usual blonde bimbo 'Lewinsky' character, another who was walking around with her nipple accidentally showing, the hot little, supportive wife who actually turns out to be a power hungry, gold digging, cold hearted cow. At one point Will's character seduces the oppositions wife just to smear his character and campaign and of course she is warm hearted and naive so had to be chubby and therefore grateful for his sleaze. Oh and they had one black male speaking part and it was only a couple of lines and he was technically mixed race, in a film set in North Carolina? Yeah okay so a dumb comedy doesn't have a duty or responsibility to represent society accurately but it makes it very clear who this movie is aimed at.
This is jock humour, strictly for Ferrel devotees and I had hoped for more. He really is a one trick pony! Watch the trailer and then move on with your life. Because those are the only good scenes in the whole movie, condensed into a few seconds.