Election (1999)

Good morning, Mr. M. Looks like you could use a CUPCAKE!

Election is a comedy about a High School election, but it is told primarily from the point-of-view of teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick). Scenes of teachers sabotaging their student's hopes and dreams out of bitter resentment for their own failures are a staple of the coming of age genre, but usually the teachers are just a minor speed bump on the major character's road to destiny. Here, the film stays with the teacher, who seems to be a decent fellow except for some major character flaws that make him do some pretty awful things.

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Tracy Flick: It's like my mom says, "The weak are always trying to sabotage the strong."
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The source novel, "Election," by Tom Perrotta parallels Budd Schulberg's 1941 novel "What Makes Sammy Run?" In Schulberg's novel, an older writer (Al Manheim) watches young Sammy Glick run through the gauntlet of New York journalism and the Old Hollywood studio system. In "Election," Al Manheim = Jim McAllister + Sammy Glick = Tracy Flick.

Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is perhaps a bit irritating in her relentless ambition, but she hardly merits the full-on vendetta unleashed by McAllister. Our sympathy shifts away from McAllister as we see that he has become somewhat fixated on thwarting Flick's ambitions due to his own frustrations. At first he merely avoids calling on her in class, though she is always first to raise her hand in response to any question. He could merely be trying to get more involvement and participation from some of the other students. When she runs for President unopposed his dislike of Tracy escalates to the next level, and he steps in to encourage a well-liked student, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein) to run for President.

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Tracy Flick: You might think it upset me that Paul Metzler had decided to run against me but nothing could be further from the truth. He was no competition for me; it was like apples and oranges. I had to work a little harder, that's all. See, I believe in the voters; they understand that elections aren't just popularity contests; they know this country was built by people just like me who work very hard and don't have everything handed to them on a silver spoon. Not like some rich kids who everybody likes because their fathers owns Metzlers cement and give them trucks on their 16th birthday and throw them big parties all the time. No, they don't ever have to work for anything. They think they can just all of a sudden one day out of the blue waltz right in with no qualifications whatsoever and try to take away what other people have worked very, very hard for their entire lives. No, it didn't bother me at all.
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A further complication is that Tracy Flick has had an affair with McAllister's friend and colleague, Dave Novotny (Mark Harelik). Dave was fired and his wife Linda (Delaney Driscoll) kicked him out. McAllister's wife and Linda were friends, so he ends up spending a lot of time helping Linda out, and begins to feel temptation. He starts an ill fated affair with Linda, sowing the seeds of his own destruction.

As if that weren't enough crazy plot twists, Paul's sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell) is in love to the point of obsession, but when her girlfriend breaks up with her and starts going out with Paul and becomes his campaign manager to spite her, she decides to run for President to spite them both. She is like the anarchist candidate, but as you might imagine, anarchy is very appealing to High School students. Her platform to dismantle the whole Student Body Government would probably carry the election, were she not more interested in just getting expelled and sent to an all-girl catholic school.

Election is not a laugh-out-loud hilarious comedy, but it is more of a dark comedy, with a skewed world view. The director, Alexander Payne, was gearing up for greater success with Sideways, with its cast of even more flawed characters, obnoxious and unlikable, who grow on you, much like a fungus. Other notable films of Payne's are About Schmidt and Citizen Ruth.

Also gearing up for greater success is Reese Witherspoon, who proved herself adept at comedy in the popular Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama, then conquered drama with a well deserved Oscar for Walk the Line. She totally stole the show from Joaquin Phoenix, the ostensible star of the Johnny Cash biopic as June Carter Cash, Johnny's long suffering wife. In Election she stretches herself in several directions, running the gamut from A to Z, going from strident martinet to obnoxiously perky in a heartbeat.

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Tracy Flick: [narrating] None of this would have happened if Mr. McAllister hadn't meddled the way he did. He should have just accepted things as they are instead of trying to interfere with destiny. You see, you can't interfere with destiny. That's why it's destiny. And if you try to interfere, the same thing's going to happen anyway, and you'll just suffer.
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DIRECTED BY ALEXANDER PAYNE

Sideways (2004)
About Schmidt (2002)
Election (1999)
Citizen Ruth (1996)

FILMS AND ROLES OF MATTHEW BRODERICK

Finding Amanda (2008) .... Taylor Peters
Diminished Capacity (2008) .... Cooper
Bee Movie (2007) (voice) .... Adam Flayman
Then She Found Me (2007) .... Benjamin 'Ben' Green
Deck the Halls (2006) .... Steve Finch
The Producers (2005) .... Leo Bloom
Strangers with Candy (2005) .... Roger Beekman
The Last Shot (2004) .... Steven Schats
The Stepford Wives (2004) .... Walter Kresby
The Lion King 1½ (2004) (V) (voice) .... Simba
Marie and Bruce (2004) .... Bruce
Good Boy! (2003) (voice) .... Hubble
You Can Count on Me (2000) .... Brian Everett
Inspector Gadget (1999) .... Officer John Brown / Inspector Gadget / Robo Gadget
Election (1999) .... Jim McAllister
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) (V) (voice) .... Simba
Walking to the Waterline (1998) .... Michael Woods
Godzilla (1998) .... Dr. Niko Tatopoulos
Addicted to Love (1997) .... Sam
Infinity (1996) .... Richard Feynman
The Cable Guy (Full Screen) (1996) .... Steven M. Kovacs
The Road to Wellville (1994) .... William Lightbody
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) .... Charles MacArthur
The Lion King (1994) (voice) .... Adult Simba
The Night We Never Met (1993) .... Sam Lester
Out on a Limb (1992) .... Bill Campbell
The Freshman (1990) .... Clark Kellogg / Narrator
Glory (1989) .... Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Family Business (1989) .... Adam McMullen
Torch Song Trilogy (1988) .... Alan Simon
Biloxi Blues (1988) .... Eugene Morris Jerome
She's Having a Baby (1988) (uncredited) .... Ferris Bueller
Project X (1987) .... Jimmy Garrett
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) .... Ferris Bueller
On Valentine's Day (1986) .... Brother
1918 (1985) .... Brother
Ladyhawke (1985) .... Phillipe Gaston
WarGames (1983) .... David Lightman
Max Dugan Returns (1983) .... Michael McPhee

FILMS AND ROLES OF REESE WITHERSPOON

Rendition (2007) .... Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Penelope (2006) .... Annie
Just Like Heaven (2005) .... Elizabeth
Walk the Line (2005) .... June Carter
Vanity Fair (2004) .... Becky Sharp
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003) .... Elle Woods
Sweet Home Alabama (2002) .... Melanie Smooter
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) .... Cecily Cardew
Legally Blonde (Special Edition) (2001) .... Elle Woods
The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) (voice) .... Serena
Little Nicky (2000) .... Holly
American Psycho (2000) .... Evelyn Williams
Best Laid Plans (1999) .... Lissa
Election (1999) .... Tracy Flick
Cruel Intentions (1999) .... Annette Hargrove
Pleasantville (1998) .... Jennifer
Overnight Delivery (1998) .... Ivy Miller
Twilight (1998) .... Mel Ames
Fear (1996) .... Nicole Walker
Freeway (1996) .... Vanessa Lutz
S.F.W. (1994) .... Wendy Pfister
Jack the Bear (1993) .... Karen Morris
A Far Off Place (1993) .... Nonnie Parker
The Man in the Moon (1991) .... Dani Trant

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Tracy Flick: Good morning, Mr. M. Looks like you could use a CUPCAKE!
=============== September 18, 2008

It's not about me, so how good can it be...?

First off, I bought this movie thinking it would be about me, but it turned out to be about a lot of boring people and stuff the director self-importantly thinks worth making a movie about. And it needs a editor, it's way too long for me to focus on, with a lot of meandering thinking and reflection, none of which is about me, or is worth my time, which is very limited, as the director ought to know, and it's not even about stuff that I can talk to other people about -- it's too uncool to talk about positively, and who wants to make themselves look cool by saying how uncool something is, which is very unlikable.

So, not about me, nothing cool I can refer to with other people, long and boring. This director couldn't get a film released by The Shopping Channel, so I guess this lame movie studio decided to pick it up cheap, which shows because whatever is going on in the story is buried in boring long winded scenes and people talking about stuff I have no interest in. Just cut to the chase, give me the high points and the stuff I need to remember to talk about. Now that's good movie writing, if you can't say it in a few sentences and keep the action moving you just need to go back to school and learn more about film making. The almost complete lack of violence makes the movie very dry and leaves me having no idea what the movie is about. And the characters don't seem to grow, or learn, and they are very unlikeable, the ending seems way to happy for what losers they are, and none of them resemble me or the people who like me. There are a lot of ugly moments and boring events, way too much sex, that I don't think most people need to see or think about. Once I have invested in a movie then I am committed to watching it, even one as boring as this. If this director wants my business in the future he's going to have to listen to me and think about me a lot more, and, finally, write a movie that shows the director understands that my self esteem can not be wasted on boring, self-indulgent, undisciplined, pretentious projects like this one.
August 1, 2008

Immature . . . and I don't just mean the characters

To quote my mother, "Wow. Where the Hell did THAT go?"

What a juvenile movie. This one seriously needed a hormone-ectomy. Illogical sexual entanglements and product-placement swearing don't substitute for genuine cleverness. One got the feeling that the directors felt the need to have a character spit out the F-word right into the camera every ten minutes, or whenever the plot started to stumble, to make sure the audience was still paying attention. I mean, I get that it was supposed to be dark humor. They got the "dark" right but the "humor" was pretty puerile and lame. It had all sorts of plot lines that didn't go anywhere and, consequently, did not make sense. It didn't actually have any insight into any of the characters. It was SHALLOW. Good satire is not shallow.

It's pretty misogynistic, too. Actually, Tammy's character, though pitiable, is probably the most human female in it (she's a confused teenaged lesbian, which didn't bother me but will probably bother people who are bothered by lesbianism and rebelliousness). The rest are vicious manipulators (Tracy and Lisa) or cold bitches (Linda and Diane). Broderick's character is a self-serving, embarrassing, loser, but I guess we're supposed to sympathize[?].

Has anyone EVER encountered a dumb jock as nice as Paul? All the dumb jocks at my school were self-centered jerks who got away with all sorts of garbage because they were *jocks*, and Heaven forbid anyone discipline the football team.

It did remind me, though, of how much I hated high school in general and student-body elections in particular. What a total crock. July 26, 2008

An Enjoyable Flick with Flick!

There are over 200 reviews for this disc...

Let's just say it's not a slapstick comedy, but it doesn't try to be. It is witty, clever, and full of self-depricating humor. Broderick is in his element. May 17, 2008

The Next Female President . . .

You've probably seen the snippet on YouTube that proclaims "Hillary Clinton IS Tracy Flick!" Well, my friends, it's true. If you enjoyed that little scene, you must revisit Alexander Payne's darkly comic 1999 gem and see for yourself how oddly prescient it was in depicting the precise dynamic going on now in American presidential politics. Reese Witherspoon is Tracy, a rabidly ambitious high school student in Omaha, Nebraska (Director Payne's hometown, which he also lovingly lampooned in "About Schmidt"), who is determined, by sheer grit, to win the election for student body president. Tracy is the ideal of college selection boards everywhere: bright, perky, neat, organized, always prepared for class, and single-mindedly involved in more school activities than there are hours in the day. On paper, she's a educator's dream . . . but she represents an uneasy nightmare for her social studies teacher, Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick). Mr. McAllister has his own reasons for disliking Tracy. She is the kind of grating apple polisher that has her hand up with the answer to every question he poses. She's at school every morning an hour before everyone else, and works late evenings and weekends on all her various extracurricular responsibilies. And she had an affair with Mr. McAllister's best friend and colleague that resulted in him losing both his job and his marriage. Tracy herself seems blithely oblivious to all the havoc she has caused. Is this wide-eyed naivete genuine or is at all an elaborate act? Mr. McAllister is inclined to believe the latter. The spectre of having to spend lots and lots of quality time alone with Tracy in his capacity as student government advisor looms large, and he persuades popular-but-dim quarterback Paul(Chris Klein) to run against Tracy. Despite having her picture splashed on every page of the yearbook (which she also edits), Tracy is a lonely figure. Her ruthless ambition and complete lack of humor about herself make friendships impossible. Tracy's robotic efficiency makes her best-suited to the government wonk job, but the engaging and likeable Paul threatens to steal the election right from under Tracy's pert and entitlist nose, making the campaign increasingly contentious.

In one of her earliest starring roles, Reese Witherspoon displays the acting chops that would later garner her an Oscar. Ms. Witherspoon plays against her naturally sunny and likeable persona to create Tracy and she is so successful, it is frightening. She gives Tracy flashes of vulnerability when we almost want to hug her for trying so hard . . .and then hardens that into a steely Machiavellian drive that repulses. It is one of the most subtle yet devastating performances ever by an actress, and given Ms. Witherspoon's youth at the time, all the more amazing. Broderick has an equally challenging role as Tracy's foil, a man so bent on engineering her downfall, he fails to recognize his own less admirable qualities until it's too late. Fans of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" have perhaps matured sufficiently to recognize the deep irony in having Ferris himself become a schlubby member of the Establishment. Broderick has in some ways the trickier role, yet he succeeds in navigating the fine line between pathos and humor and makes McAllister a low-rent Everyman that we can root for.

The last time McAllister, and the audience see Tracy, several years after the events of the movie, she is a congressional aide getting into a limo with her congressman, with the White House in the background behind her. Hmm. The obvious similarity to Monica Lewinsky aside, Tracy reminds us of someone else we have gotten to know very well these last 10 or so years, who has her sights firmly fixed on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue . . .again. Were Payne and novelist Tom Perotta on whose book the screenplay is based eerily psychic, or are the glaring similarities to HRC's rise just a cosmic chuckle? We may have months yet before the outcome of 'our' election is decided . . . while you are killing time before November, watch this and have a a rueful laugh. Was Tracy Flick inspired by Hillary Clinton, or are Tracy and HRC just two examples of a feminine archtype that's as old as the human race itself? We may never know!
April 18, 2008

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