Pros: characters, script, editing, casting, direction
Cons: deeply cynical, some stereotyping
The Bottom Line: This comedy is highly recommended to anyone not easily offended who needs a good laugh. Also, it is an insightful look into high school politics.
Election is a production of MTV, which made short-term stars of such dubious personalities as Paulie Shore and Kennedy. One expects the worst, such as a teen-oriented sex comedy. But as was the case with their previous theatrical release, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, the film defies expectations.
Election may be a comedy. However, in addition to providing laughs, it also gives us well-developed characters and story lines. As black comedies go, I prefer it to American Beauty, which was more showy but also more dubious.
Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has spent the last twelve years as a dedicated high school teacher. He believes that he is one teacher that makes a difference in the lives of his students. He is happily married to Diane (Molly Hagan), although she has been frustrated in their attempts to produce a child.
One of Jim's students is Tracey Flick (Reese Witherspoon). Tracey is a compulsive achiever, urged on by her single mother who sees Tracey as a redemption for her own setbacks in life. Tracey, who is friendless despite endless extra-curricular activities, has her perky sights set on becoming class president.
Jim and Tracey have a common weakness. They are unable to see their own flaws, but can see the flaws in each other. Jim sees himself as a soft-spoken hero, and Tracey as a self-centered, ruthless brat. Tracey sees herself as a future success story, and Jim as automaton who stays in his rut while his students move on to better things.
While they are vastly different personalities, society is in need of them both. Somebody has to take the low status and low paying job of teaching, and somebody has to serve on mundane boards that form the backbone of government. And to do that job well, they have to believe that what they are doing is important, even if others see it differently.
Tracey is not a reflective person. For her, Jim McAllister is a teacher worth flattering if it will serve her purpose, which is to increase her political power. But she is right to believe that Jim is jealous of her, even if no one else is. Jim wants to poke a hole in her balloon, to deflate her ego and promise.
But Jim is in need of a similar deflation. With his devoted and bland wife obsessed with pregnancy, Jim may be forced to perform but his mind wanders elsewhere while doing so. Tracey turns up in his fantasies as a tormentor, but it is his best friend's ex-wife Linda (Delaney Driscoll) that he really wants to have. While Jim is a 'model' teacher and husband, that is about to change, as pressures and temptations take their toll. One of the messages of Election is that the same could happen to you.
Jim enlists popular jock Paul Metzler (Chris Klein) as an opponent to Tracey for student president. Paul is well-meaning but naive and stupid. Ironically, his is the only major character that is unaffected by the film's plot convolutions. He is unable to change, whether or not he is elected president. Paul's lesbian sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell) joins the race as well, with her hilariously disaffected campaign speech drawing approval from everyone except the school politicians.
It is easy to condemn Election as being overly cynical. But except for the wives, the characters are deeply developed, with credible flaws and strengths. We can laugh at Tracey (and admire Reese Witherspoon) for her character's obsessions, as we know that a class presidency is a position of empty power. We can laugh at Jim as he attempts a romantic affair with his best friend's wife, as we know that she is a troubled spirit who will not play his games using his rules. They deserve what they get, and Tracey gets her comeuppance on a daily basis. She may have the power she craves, but she is incapable of intimacy.
If the film makes an allegory out of a bee sting, or adds an artificial ending putting Jim back where he started (as a contented teacher), this hardly diminishes the rest of the film.
While the critical success of American Beauty made 1999 the year of the Black Comedy, the concept is hardly new. The best year for black comedies was probably 1962, which gave us among others The Manchurian Candidate, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and Lolita.
Admittedly, cynicism has its down side. It suspects even altruistic motivations. But instead of needless worry that our culture is becoming too cynical, we should instead consider the advantages that cynicism brings. We can see through the fronts of others, and in the case of Election, with entertaining results. (71/100)
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