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Election (1999 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Election' is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Alexander Payne from a screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on Tom Perrotta's 1998 novel of the same name.
The plot revolves around a student body election and satirizes politics and high school life. The film stars Matthew Broderick as Jim McAllister, a popular high school social studies teacher, and Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick, an overachieving student whom he dislikes. When Tracy runs for student government president, McAllister sabotages her candidacy by backing a rival candidate and tampering with the ballot count.
Although not a success at the box office, 'Election' received widespread critical acclaim. The film received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Golden Globe nomination for Witherspoon for Best Actress, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film in 1999.
Plot
Jim McAllister teaches U.S. history and civics at a suburban Omaha, Nebraska, high school. Tracy Flick is an overachieving senior and one of Jim's students. Jim's colleague and best friend Dave lost his job and his wife after engaging in a sexual relationship with Tracy. While Jim felt Dave needed to suffer the consequences, he resents Tracy for having emerged unscathed.
Appalled by Tracy's unopposed run for student government president, Jim persuades Paul Metzler, a popular football player, to enter the race. Paul is sidelined from football with a broken leg and finds his candidacy gives him purpose. It also infuriates Tracy, who resents Paul's popularity and privileged upbringing.
Tammy Metzler, Paul's younger sister, is dumped by her girlfriend Lisa, who becomes Paul's girlfriend and campaign manager. Tammy exacts revenge by running for president on a nihilistic platform that student government is a sham. In her speech at a school assembly, she denounces the election and vows to dissolve student government if she wins. She rallies the students to a rowdy standing ovation, but the principal retaliates by suspending her.
Tracy sees that one of her campaign posters has come unstuck from the wall. She tries to secure it but accidentally rips the poster apart. In a fit of rage, she destroys the other candidates' campaign posters and discards them in a dumpster, unaware that Tammy sees her. The next day, Jim confronts Tracy with his suspicion that she removed the posters. Tracy feigns innocence and trades threats with Jim. She is saved by Tammy, who appears with the torn posters and claims responsibility. Tammy is expelled, her name is struck from the ballot, and her parents enroll her in a private Catholic school for girls, much to her delight.
The day before the election, Jim has a tryst with Linda, Dave's ex-wife. Linda asks Jim to rent a motel room for an afterschool rendezvous, but she fails to show. When Jim drives to Linda's house to find her, he is stung by a bee on his eyelid. He returns home to find Linda and his wife Diane talking. Knowing his encounter with Linda has been exposed, he spends the night in his car.
Jim oversees the tally of the ballots, which finds Tracy winning by a single vote. He secretly disposes of two of Tracy's ballots, throwing the election to Paul. The ballots are later discovered. Tracy becomes president and Jim loses his job. Diane throws Jim out of the house.
Divorced and humiliated, Jim moves to New York City, becomes a tour guide at the American Museum of Natural History, and begins dating a new woman. Tracy attends Georgetown University, where she finds her fellow students annoy her just as much as in high school. Paul develops an active social life at the University of Nebraska, though without Lisa, who dumps him. Tammy finds a new girlfriend at her all-girls school.
On a visit to Washington, D.C., Jim spots Tracy getting into a limousine with a congressman. He hurls a cup of soda at the limo as it drives away. Later, he speaks to a group of elementary school students at the museum, refusing to respond to the raised hand of a student who reminds him of Tracy.
Cast
Production
Producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa sent director Alexander Payne an unpublished manuscript from novelist Tom Perrotta called "Election" in 1996. Payne was initially uninterested in directing a high school movie, but changed his mind after he read the manuscript. "It was set in a high school, but it wasnt a high school story, per se. Also what attracted me was the formal exercise of doing a movie with multiple points of view and multiple voice-overs," said Payne. The novel's rights were sold to Payne in January 1997 and it was officially published in March 1998.
The novel was inspired by two key events. The first was the 1992 United States presidential election, in which Ross Perot entered as a third-party candidate (a move echoed by Tammy Metzler). The second was a 1992 incident at Memorial High School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in which a pregnant student was elected homecoming queen, but staff announced a different winner and burned the ballots to cover it up.
The film uses a number of stylized techniques in its storytelling, particularly through the use of freeze frames, flashbacks and voiceovers, which allow sections of the narrative to be delivered from the points of view of the four main characters.
The film was primarily shot on location around the Omaha metro area in the fall of 1997, most notably in Papillion, Bellevue and the Dundee neighborhood. Papillion-La Vista Senior High School portrayed the fictitious Carver High School with many of the background extras being actual enrolled students at the time. Minor scenes were filmed at Younkers in Westroads Mall, the Old Market and the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
Alternate ending
The film's original ending, which was received poorly by test audiences, was not known until a rough workprint of it was found in a box of VHS tapes at a yard sale in 2011. This ending also appears in the third draft of the script, which can be read online. It is faithful to the book: Jim stays in Omaha and is hired as a used car salesman by one of his former students instead of moving to New York. Tracy encounters McAllister while looking to buy a car and the two settle their differences before she has him sign her yearbook.Reception
'Election' was not a box office success as it grossed only $17.2 million against a budget of $8.5-$25 million.
Critical response
'Election' received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 92%, based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The critical consensus reads, "'Election' successfully combines dark humor and intelligent writing in this very witty and enjoyable film." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 83 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F. It later placed at #5 in the first annual Village Voice Film Poll.Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, praising Witherspoon and Payne, and saying, "...here is a movie that is not simply about an obnoxious student, but also about an imperfect teacher, a lockstep administration, and a student body that is mostly just marking time until it can go out into the world and occupy valuable space". Todd McCarthy of 'Variety magazine' wrote: "Brandishes the sort of intelligent wit and bracing nastiness that will make it more appealing to discerning adults than to teens who just want to have fun." Desson Howe from 'The Washington Post' recommended the film, saying it was "the satire of the season, a hilarious, razor-sharp indictment of the American Dream," also praising Payne for finding "a perfect fulcrum between humor and tragedy, between black comedy and poignancy."
According to Payne, it is also President Barack Obama's favorite political film.
Accolades
'Election' is ranked #61 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies", #389 on 'Empire's "500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and #9 on 'Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Best High School Movies", while Witherspoon's performance was ranked at #45 on the list of the "100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time" by 'Premiere'.
Home media
'Election' was released on DVD on October 19, 1999, and Blu-ray on January 20, 2017. A special edition Blu-ray was released by The Criterion Collection on December 16, 2017, with a 4K restoration of the film.[https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Election-Blu-ray/189156/ Election Blu-ray]. Blu-ray.com.
References
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