I saw Election when I was a senior in high school. However, I don’t think I watched the film from beginning to end. I remember moments of it now, but I didn’t remember liking it. Leonard Maltin praised this film some months back on his podcast. Since then, I’ve been committed to watching to see what I didn’t get. Election isn’t my favorite movie, but it’s definitely better than I remembered. I give Election the Decent Watch rating.
Election has its moments.
Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is a high school teacher whose personal life becomes complicated as the school elections come close and he has to work with students, particularly with Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), who is an obsessive overachiever determined to become student body president.
Adapted from a book by Tom Perrotta and directed by Alexander Payne, also directed “The Descendants” and “Sideways”, does a great job with this film. There are jokes that open from the beginning that play throughout the film. There are some really cool camera work in the film as well that uses a shot of a tree in the foreground with bees buzzing around as Broderick is frantically knocking on a door. The shot has a big payoff moments later, but just the composition of the shot is fantastic.
I really enjoy Chris Klein’s performance of Paul Metzler. He plays the innocent buffoon who is thrust into the world of high school politics. He’s the ultimate nice guy who always looks at the best of the people prednisone around him and seems ultimately unaware of the bad things that are happening. Reese Witherspoon delivers a really strong performance in her role as the obsessive student with the drive to win at all costs. Her character is despicable yet manages to even trick the audience like she does so many characters in the film. You almost feel bad for her despite the horrible person we know her to be.
Really miss Ferris Bueller
Matthew Broderick is supposed to be relatable but is mainly despicable. His story is a tragic one. Jim McAllister is a good person at his core. However, he’s finally had enough of being the runner-up in life. Instead, he tries to make things go the way he thinks they should. Ultimately, that doesn’t pan out for him. McAllister is able to take a page from Paul’s book and try to look at the bright side of life even when everything seems wrong.
There is definitely a lot of good aspects of this film. Yet, there are moments that just don’t sit well and are so abrasive that it takes some of the joy from this film and dims it. Not saying I didn’t laugh at those moments, but it does make it hard to rewatch or recommend this film. Also, I feel like Broderick’s characters after Ferris Bueller are often unlikeable making it hard to be on his side. Either way, if you’ve never seen it and like slightly dark comedies it’s not a bad watch at all.
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