The Campaign

Arriving in time to heavily influence this year's presidential election by revealing it to be boring and totally devoid of baby-punching incidents (unless there's further digging into Mitt Romney's prep school past), The Campaign sees director Jay Roach coming full circle from recent political dramas like Game Change and Recount to the broad, Austin Powers/Meet The Fockers comedy of his past. It's a bit of a mélange of greatest hits for stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis too: The latter pulls out his "Seth Galifianakis" alter ego as the doofus, disproportionately confident, corporate-backed challenger to a long-term congressman. Ferrell, meanwhile, combines his George W. Bush impression with the vanity and colorful exclamations of Ron Burgundy, while the improvised, escalating absurdities, frank family dinner scenes, and random acts of violence—including an increasingly common, possibly Elder Scrolls-inspired arrow-to-the-knee—recall both Anchorman and Talladega Nights. So in many ways, The Campaign is like the incumbent you vote for because you recognize the name—but at least you know who you're getting.