THE CAMPAIGN - a vulgar election

Bah! Jay Roach has directed a number of decent comedies like Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers trilogy; he has also directed two very good TV dramas of late - Game Change and Recount. The Campaign, no doubt, is a raunchy, satirical ode to the current state of affairs in this country and a spoof off his last two political movies. Was it very good though? No, not really.

Roach has proven, at least to me, that he can dramatize current bizarre and shady political schemes in a way that contains as much veracity as possible without feeling too heavy handed - a bit like what JFK was for Oliver Stone. You may not agree with the artistic license taken at all points but somehow the direction conveys what most people feel about how the events probably took place. His representation of Sarah Palin in Game Change seemed fair and incredible as was his telling of the Gore/Bush voting booth craziness in Recount. 

The Campaign, however, was juvenile and hackneyed in the extreme. Corporations are bad. Capitalism is bad. Money is bad. There are some funny jokes, but most of them you feel like an idiot for laughing at, or worse, you begin to conjure a laugh and then you choke mid way through because whatever is said is not really even that amusing. A typical day out with Will Ferrell - gross out humor and peculiar sentences instead of wit and subtlety. Roach should stick to TV drama and stay away from puerile farce. Bah!

Recommended Viewing: The Great McGinty - Election - Wag The Dog

              Bob Scale: Objective: 6.0   -   Subjective: 6.5

             MetaCritic: 63

 Rotten Tomatoes: 66

                    IMDB: 6.2

CASA DE MI PADRE - a hispanic nightmare

Hmmm... Ahhh... Hmmm... Aha this is comedy at some other level. I think I get the basic idea of what was attempted here, but much to my disappointment, the aim fell far short of lofty satire to feel more like a B movie for young hispanic children.

Will Fair-ell is the protagonist who is the son nobody loves until everybody has to. And of course the young incredibly gorgeous heroine does as well. A silly facile drug plot is the story propellant in which all the characters become embroiled.  Dry dry dry is the humor throughout and I dare say only the Hispanic population will get the most bang for their buck. Casa de mi Padre feels too outside normal cinematic conventions in a negative way to be convincing. It literally feels like watching a terrible soap opera on some wack TV channel. I am all about innovation but here it feels lazy and  mind numbing rather than invigorating. I do like the intended falsity of the sets and animals, yet that seems to be the extent of the imagination. 

Gael Garcia Bernal is a favorite actor of mine and has starred in many great films of the past 12 years. This is his third pairing with Diego Luna (best friends since childhood) and by far the worst. Save your money and watch this with a TV dinner.

Recommended Viewing: Rudo y Cursi - The King - Y Tu Mamá También

              Bob Scale: Objective: 5.8   -   Subjective: 5.5

             MetaCritic: 52

 Rotten Tomatoes: 45

                      IMDB: 5.8