When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate in The Campaign and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naive Marty "Bringing My Broom Because It's A Mess" Huggins (Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors' support, cutthroat campaign manager, and his family's political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As election day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other. Gary Reber)
Both the theatrical (01:25:29) and extended version (01:35:39) are available. Special features include the featurette Line-O-Rama (HD 04:23), nine deleted scenes (HD 15:44), a gag reel (HD 03:31), upfront previews, and an UltraViolet digital copy.
The 1.78:1 1080p AVC picture looks terrific, with a fresh contemporary presence. Contrast is excellent, with bright realistic imagery and a strongly saturated color palette with rich and warm hues. Fleshtones are perfectly natural. Blacks are deep and shadow delineation is revealing. Resolution is generally revealing of fine detail, especially during close-ups, but at times is softly focused. Overall, the picture is energized and nicely supports the outrageous storytelling. (Gary Reber)
The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is conventionally produced with an overall frontal focus. Dialogue centric, the sound is intelligible throughout but wanting in spatial integration due to a forward presence. The music score provides what subtle surround envelopment there is, but occasionally rises steam with an aggressive surround presence, with .1 LFE bass support. Overall, the soundtrack is well recorded but undistinguished otherwise. (Gary Reber)