Election Review
by "Kleszczewski, Nicholas" (Nicholas DOT Kleszczewski AT pepsi DOT com)May 20th, 1999
Election
Every now and then a movie comes along from a suspect studio, with every indication that it will be a stinker, and to everybody's surprise (perhaps even the studio) the film becomes a critical darling. MTV Films' _Election, a high school comedy starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, is a current example. Did anybody know this film existed a week before it opened?
The plot is deceptively simple. George Washington Carver High School is having student elections. Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is an over-achiever with her hand raised at nearly every question, way, way, high. Mr. "M" (Matthew Broderick), sick of the megalomaniac student, encourages Paul, a popular-but-slow jock to run. And Paul's nihilistic sister jumps in the race as well, for personal reasons.
The dark side of such sleeper success is that, because expectations were so low going in, the fact that this was quality stuff made the reviews even more enthusiastic than they have any right to be. You can't help going in with the baggage of glowing reviews, which is in contrast to the negative baggage that the reviewers were likely to have.
_Election, a good film, does not live up to its hype.
What makes _Election_ so disappointing is that it contains significant plot details lifted directly from _Rushmore_, released a few months earlier. The similarities are staggering:
Tracy Flick (_Election_) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs, and is involved with the school play.
Max Fischer (_Rushmore_) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs, and is involved with the school play.
The most significant tension of _Election_ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student.
The most significant tension of _Rushmore_ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student.
Tracy Flick is from a single parent home, which has contributed to her drive.
Max Fischer is from a single parent home, which has contributed to his drive.
The male bumbling adult in _Election_ (Matthew Broderick) pursues an extramarital affair, gets caught, and his whole life is ruined. He even gets a bee sting.
The male bumbling adult in _Rushmore_ (Bill Murray) pursues an extramarital affair, gets caught, and his whole life is ruined. He gets several bee stings.
And so on. What happened? How is it that an individual screenplay (_Rushmore_) and a novel (_Election_) contain so many significant plot points, and yet both films were probably not even aware of each other, made from two different studios, from a genre (the high school geeks revenge movie) that hadn't been fully formed yet?
Even so, the strengths of _Election_ rely upon its fantastic performances from Broderick, Witherspoon, and newcomer Jessica Campbell, as Paul's anti-social sister, Tammy. Broderick here is playing the Mr. Rooney role from _Ferris Bueller_, and he seems to be having the most fun he's had since then. Witherspoon is a revelation. It's early in the year, it's a comedy, and teenagers have little clout, but for my money, Witherspoon deserves an Oscar nomination. And once Campbell's character gets going, like in her fantastic speech in the gymnasium, then you're won over.
One thing that's been bothering me since I've seen it. There is an extraordinary amount of sexuality in this film. I suppose that, coming from MTV films, I should expect no less... but the film starts off light and airy, like a sitcom. As the screws tighten, and the tensions mount, Alexander Payne decides to add elements that, frankly, distract from the story. It is bad enough that Mr. M doesn't like Tracy's determination to win at all costs, but did they have to throw in the student/teacher relationship? Even so, there's no logical reason why Mr. M has an affair when he does.
There's a lot to like in _Election_, but the plot similarities to _Rushmore_, and the tonal nosedive it takes as it gets explicitly sex-driven, mark this as a disappointment.
Nick Scale (1 to 10): 7
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