The Campaign, 21 Jump Street (2012), Click (2006)

In The Campaign, Two CEOs (Dan Aykroyd & John Lithgow) seize an opportunity to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: naive Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center.

In 21 Jump Street, A pair of underachieving cops (Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill) are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.

And in Click, A workaholic architect (Adam Sandler) finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life.


The Campaign

Political animals

Not a smart of a sharp satire nor as funny as you'd expect from a film with Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis as its two leads. It's pretty telling how some of the films funniest moments, including Will Ferrell's display of his baby punching abilities, were already shown in the trailer. The main problem is that the films ending is wrapped up in too neat a manner, making it come off as cliche. The idea that politics can be wrapped up so neatly like that is less believable than anything I saw in Prometheus. Despite the great cast who all do a good job acting, the film never amounts to more than a shrug and a slight chuckle.


21 Jump Street

High School High


Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum shine out of an entire cast that are gifted with great comedic timing, in this hilarious comedy that boasts a smart script which pokes fun at the cliches which are ever-present in both high school films and cop films. Plus, it has the best on-screen use of Miranda right and one of the best cameos of 2012.


Adam Sandler holding a television remote controlClick

Rewind all human knowledge of this film, and press delete

Adam Sandler stars in a film with an interesting concept but decides not to use any of the story telling potential, instead focusing on fart jokes and Adam Sandler abusing David Hasslehoff (the latter of which I don't mind too much). It could've been a poignant drama, but instead tries to be a comedy for the first half and then takes a jarring tonal shift and a tries to give you the dramatic potential with a few plot twists that are so blatant and unsubtle, and then ends by ripping off It's A Wonderful Life. It's pretty hard to buy into this attempt at sentimentality when it runs in the same film that showed four different dogs sexually abusing the same stuffed duck.

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