Election
Cast
Matthew Broderick as James T. 'Jim' McAllister
Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Enid Flick
Loren Nelson as Custodian
Chris Klein as Paul Metzler
Phil Reeves as Principal Walter 'Walt' F. Hendricks
Directed by Alexander Payne
Rater #2 has description and review
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
8/10. Alexander Payne's brilliant satire Election begins with a simple
enough opening credit scheme, then goes on with a story less than
simple. Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is a twelve-year veteran
of teaching Civis/History classes at George Washington Carver High
School. He looks a little young, but maybe I can't get the Ferris
Bueller image out of my mind. Anyway, he's also chairman of student
council. He loves his job and has won three teaching awards. However,
there's also Tracy Flick.
Tracy (Reese Witherspoon) is an obnoxious overachiever whose hand is
always straight up whenever a question is asked and gives dictionary
definitions. McAllister can't stand her, since she's been student
president for three years now, and she has no plans of not doing a
fourth term. Even though she is running unopposed, she still puts up
posters and buttons and cupcakes (!). So McAllister tries to sabotage
her running in various ways, including sending in jock Paul Metzler
(Chris Klein). Of course, things don't go as planned.
Election has many funny parts, as well as many poignant parts, also.
At times it could be bittersweet, and other times it could be a
little mean-spirited (but still in a comedic tone). Most of the jokes
aren't for today's teen comedies (although this movie did come out
just four years ago), since they don't have to do with gross body
functions. This is one teen comedy, however, that you'll want to own
on DVD so you can watch it over and over.
There is heavy narration (except for the middle-end), which I love,
told by the four major characters: McAllister, Tracy, Paul, and
Paul's sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell), who may be a lesbian. She
doesn't think so, stating, "It's not like I'm a lesbian or anything.
It's just that all the people I've been attracted to happen to be
girls." This makes for an interesting subplot that gets over her
head. It seems like Payne (who also directed About Schmidt) likes to
intertwine his stories: McAllister's colleague Dave Novotny (Mark
Harelik) has an affair with Tracy who gets fired; McAllister wants to
have an affair with Novotny's wife Linda (Delaney Driscoll), and it
goes on and on. It's actually quite funny to see how it all turns out.
However, it can't all be good. Klein is way too old to play a high
schooler (and he looks a lot like Keanu Reeves), and Broderick is too
young to be a star teacher. The script, though always biting and
sarcastic, doesn't really make us know why McAllister hates Tracy.
They get us to like the characters (though all of the pratfalls
McAllister befalls-it seems like Jeffrey Jones is getting back at him
from Ferris Bueller), though.
Payne must have some obsession with mouths; there are many close-ups
and references to mouths. And the poster has a mouth. The music is
simple yet elegant (but sometimes it sounds like the music comes from
TV's Survivor). The pace is kept throughout, but gets bogged down
towards the middle and lets its comedy take a breather. It does add
dramatic effect, but it would have been easier to sit through if they
kept the humor coming. I really had no idea what was going to happen
at the end, and I was surprisingly satisfied at the conclusion,
though I can understand where some people wouldn't.
During the way of the movie, I was repeatedly reminded of Ghost
World, because of its quirkiness, black humor, poignant drama, and
Thora Birch decided not to take the role of Tracy (she'd also be
perfect). It seems like the mocking of high school was dead on.
I though Broderick was perfect (despite his age), and Witherspoon did
an excellent job. Klein was also great, and supporting characters
(like Colleen Camp) were good, no matter how small the role. So, I
would very highly recommend Election, no questions asked.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated R for strong sexuality, sex-related dialogue and language, and a scene of drug use.
Running time: 103 minutes
Back Home