gistfile1.py

In [15]: import re

In [16]: pattern = re.compile('\(.*\)')

In [17]: %timeit pattern.search(string)
1000000 loops, best of 3: 1.04 µs per loop

In [18]: %timeit '(' in string and ')' in string
1000000 loops, best of 3: 260 ns per loop

In [19]: s = string

In [26]: %timeit s.find('(') < s.find(')') > -1
1000000 loops, best of 3: 1.15 µs per loop