ELECTION. Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Rated R (fairly graphic sex, many sexual references, language).
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Election should have a surreality warning label attached. I mean, seeing Ferris Bueller, of all people, as a high school teacher, for goodness sakes.... Well, it takes a little getting used to.
Broderick does make it easier than you might think, though, by giving a great performance as Mr. McAllister, a somewhat nerdy, but apparently dedicated, American history and government teacher who is also in charge of administering the student council elections at Carver High.
He's matched in the acting department by Witherspoon, who is just delightful (in an annoying and obnoxious way) as Tracy, the girl who was born to be student council president and who will be student council president, no matter what.
These good performances, along with others from the supporting cast, and a very intelligent and surprisingly sensitive script, make Election a most enjoyable satire not only of high school life, but also of politics in general. As well as a few assorted other topics.
It's funny but never truly mean-spirited, in spite of the sordid nature of some of its plot points (extra-marital lust, student-teacher affairs, unrequited teen-aged lesbian crushes... you get the idea). In fact, you even end up feeling some sympathy for these very un-sympathetic people, an impulse which perhaps works against the comedy to some extent, but which makes for a much more interesting movie.
Mr. McAllister can't stand the thought of pushy Tracy getting a free ride to the student council presidency, so he talks a good-hearted but dim-witted football hero into joining the race.
This interference sets in motion plot complications that you just wouldn't believe. But that's another great thing about Election—it's very unpredictable, with little surprises coming every few minutes and bigger ones less frequently but still satisfyingly often.
The narrative structure of the movie is fresh and intriguing as well, using multiple voice-over narrators so that we know for sure what everyone is thinking and how markedly these thoughts, for most of the characters anyway, contrast with the thinkers' outward actions.
An intelligent hoot! would be my sound-bite synopsis of Election, were I required to make sound bites. With an additional pinch of the surreal for good measure.
[1999. Not published]