By: Shaun
A brilliantly fresh satire to feed those who loved the film "Rushmore" which I hold to be superior then this one, a smart comedy that does not skimp on the laughs and sticky situations. So vibrant and exuberant you wish more filmmakers could emulate from this director, when the end credits rolled I was washed over with a zealous feeling, this is the first film I joined the crowd in applauding. Amazingly my friends actually liked it, and they are not into the intellectual type of movies, only slam bang action. This is the highlight of teen films, the one that stands out from the rest, a quirky highly comedy that reminds you why to pay for a ticket, I cannot even begin to express my gratitude in words for this film, when scripts are this smart it makes me ecstatically happy. I am a fiend to this genre ("The Graduate", "Rushmore"), because when I can relate to what the character is feeling or saying, the film evolves into an experience, and if this movie did not carry such elements of real human emotions blended in with comedy and a lot of satire, my judgement would be very different. The only problem with this genre is that it is very scarce, but when one is released and is good, it is worth the wait because your anticipation grows higher and higher only to be fulfilled. I felt no acting from the actors, it seemed natural, and the way they played their characters occupation was so new, as if they were them, especially Mathew Broderick’s role as the devoted teacher, he spoke like one, and his facial expressions were exactly like one. We see what the difference is between ethics and morals, and we see how all characters break them, the films eminence grows from its integrity and faithfulness to it’s audience. I will call "Election" as I did "Rushmore", the film is luminous, it glows like a candle and we watch that glare and we love every minute of it. We watch our heroes vehemently denounce their enemies in a entertaining manner, it’s mean but not uncouth, guilty fun. There are fantasies and reality, what people dream of but cannot have, this is a modern day tale of morality, it makes you ponder what you would do if it were yourself in the character’s predicaments.
Meet the charismatic Jim McAllister (Mathew Broderick, in his first great role ever), a man that loves to teach, he is devoted to give his attention to all students and make sure they learn everything he says, he is a man of prestige and possibly the best educator in his school. Along with being a teacher he is a student councilor and assists teens with any problems whatsoever, he dwells in Nebraska and has a wife named Diane who is desperately needing to get pregnant. Mr. Mcallister also is a sneaky little grownup as we learn, and has the power to be deceiving and mischievous, he cannot restrain his sexual tendencies towards other women, and that is why he is so real and human. He tries to remain loyal and an abiding citizen of sanctimonious righteous men, but he discovers that he is not that kind of man. I was totally taken off guard by that blistering and deep performance that Broderick gave, it made me respect him for once.
Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is a overachieving teacher’s pet who is focusing on an election, she is running for school presidency and is determined to win, but how can she not, she is the only one running. She is the kind of person who always gets what she wants, as she says in the beginning "Me winning is destiny, so it is useless to get in destiny’s way because it is inevitable, so in the end you will get hurt". Tracy is one those smart kids who usually does not have too many friends but is very intelligent, she likes running extra curricular clubs and activities and has a high self image of herself, we also learn that she is very persuasive. She does not rue when ruining her lover’s life ,for her lover was a teacher she was really fond of, they were very compatible and once he began to get mushy on her she told the principle and he was fired. Witherspoon giver another fine performance from the many she has been giving in her past few films.
Now Mr. Mcallister is really a bit anti-Tracy, he does not call on her when she asks questions, he for some odd reason does not like her and wants for someone to run up against her in the election for presidency, so he has a chat with Mr. popularity, the naīve Paul Metzler (Chris Klein). Paul recently broke his leg which disables him to play sports, so Mr. Mcallister tells Paul how bad it is for only one person to run for presidency, there is no democracy, and it is dictatorship. Paul swallows all that Mr. Mcallister says and the following day he begins campaigning. His sister, Tammy (Jessica Campbell) is a lesbian who believes she has a soul partner, who dumps her for her brother, this makes Tammy furious and she decides to run for presidency against her brother, although he is oblivious about her sexuality.
Mr. Mcallister is having trouble not being attracted to his friends widowed wife, since the two spend so much time together he becomes infatuated with her and cannot stop thinking about screwing her. He is wanting for his fantasies to become reality and divulge his feelings to the women who gives him a stiffy. Once again if you extremely hate Mathew Broderick watch him in this role to get you perspective changed.
"Election" is an amazingly touching film that almost anyone can relate to and feel satiated with, the acting here is great and the script is genuine as is the directing from Alex Payne. I went into this film with low expectation and left with a overwhelming smile on my face.
GRADE: A
