(Election, Alexander Payne, 1999)I think the main reason I like Election so much is the memory I have associated with the first time I saw it. I was a sophomore in high school, and I went over to my friend Kaitlyn's house after school. She, our friend Kristin and I all watched this together in her basement. I don't necessarily remember, but it may have been the first "R" rated movie I'd seen in its entirety. I do know it was the first time I had seen one without my parents knowing. I know, I was such a rebel at 15.
The benefit, however, of watching it a second time was that, with age, I find that I actually understand the movie a whole lot better. I remember being confused as to why this movie was billed as a comedy. Now I realize that it truly is comedic, just blacker than black. Matthew Broderick is compromise personified as Jim McAllister, the high school civics teacher who is punished by the fates for having the audacity to try to break away from the established norm.
Reese Witherspoon steals the show, though, as overachieving senior Tracy Flick. She's the usual perky blonde that everybody knows from the Legally Blonde films, but Witherspoon gets the chance here to create real depth and emotion in her character. She's manipulative, vindictive, angry, and completely willing to do whatever it takes to win. And, in the titular student government election, Tracy has to go up against ex-football star Paul Metzler (Chris Klein).Chris Klein, unbeknownst to everyone at the time, suffers from what I like to call "Matthew McCanaughey Syndrome." Much like Mr. McCanaughey in "Dazed & Confused," we were all convinced that Chris Klein was merely really good at playing the stupid, big-hearted jock that provided some much-needed levity (I know McCaunaughey wasn't a jock, but I think you get my point). Turns out, the guy can't act his way out of a paper bag. But it works in Election, where he provides the perfect foil to Witherspoon, choosing to be far more innocent than she could ever hope to be.
Yes, Election really does work in making you laugh out loud. But Witherspoon and Broderick really serve as the film's prime examples of the two outcomes should you choose to do whatever it takes to get what you want. In Broderick's case, his world comes crashing down, but he emerges somewhat better off, with a new life and a new job. For Witherspoon, she ultimately gets what she wants, but without the rich, fulfilling life we all want. For Klein, he's just happy he didn't die.
The benefit, however, of watching it a second time was that, with age, I find that I actually understand the movie a whole lot better. I remember being confused as to why this movie was billed as a comedy. Now I realize that it truly is comedic, just blacker than black. Matthew Broderick is compromise personified as Jim McAllister, the high school civics teacher who is punished by the fates for having the audacity to try to break away from the established norm.
Reese Witherspoon steals the show, though, as overachieving senior Tracy Flick. She's the usual perky blonde that everybody knows from the Legally Blonde films, but Witherspoon gets the chance here to create real depth and emotion in her character. She's manipulative, vindictive, angry, and completely willing to do whatever it takes to win. And, in the titular student government election, Tracy has to go up against ex-football star Paul Metzler (Chris Klein).Chris Klein, unbeknownst to everyone at the time, suffers from what I like to call "Matthew McCanaughey Syndrome." Much like Mr. McCanaughey in "Dazed & Confused," we were all convinced that Chris Klein was merely really good at playing the stupid, big-hearted jock that provided some much-needed levity (I know McCaunaughey wasn't a jock, but I think you get my point). Turns out, the guy can't act his way out of a paper bag. But it works in Election, where he provides the perfect foil to Witherspoon, choosing to be far more innocent than she could ever hope to be.
Yes, Election really does work in making you laugh out loud. But Witherspoon and Broderick really serve as the film's prime examples of the two outcomes should you choose to do whatever it takes to get what you want. In Broderick's case, his world comes crashing down, but he emerges somewhat better off, with a new life and a new job. For Witherspoon, she ultimately gets what she wants, but without the rich, fulfilling life we all want. For Klein, he's just happy he didn't die.
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It should be said from the start that Matthew Broderick holds a very special place in my heart. Specifically, because Ferris Bueller's Day Off is consistently one of my all-time favorite movies, and my go to movie to watch when I'm home sick or in a particularly bad mood. What can I say, it cheers me up. It must be something about that parade scene. It just gets me. But this post isn't about Ferris Bueller. It's about Election. And Election is decidedly not Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And this is NOT the Matthew Broderick I fell in love with.
I like Matthew Broderick one of two ways. I like him as Ferris Bueller (plucky, tenacious, looking for a good time, and, let's face it, completely brilliant). Ferris is charming and cute, and he achieves what every high school senior dreams of: the perfect day off. The other way that I like Matthew Broderick is the way he was in The Producers. Leo Bloom is meek and cowardly. He spends his days as an accountant and has never done anything remotely interesting...until he meets Max Bialystock. Then all of his dreams of being a Broadway producer come true (after a short stint in prison, of course). Once again, he gets what pretty much everyone wants. He gets to be what he's always wanted to be, despite living most of his life as an average Joe.
Matthew Broderick in Election is neither of those two versions of Matthew Broderick. And that's probably the main reason that I am somewhat uncomfortable with Election. In Election, Matthew Broderick is meek and unassuming like he was in The Producers, but he doesn't triumph. At all. He ends up being defeated by Tracy Flick, who can be found in literally every high school in America.
I can see why Election is considered "good." I understand what makes it appealing, and I can even see that it was something of a subversive film at the time it was made. And usually that would be right my alley, but I honestly just have a hard time getting behind a movie that doesn't end with Matthew Broderick getting exactly what he wants.
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