ELECTION

ELECTION (1999) ***

Reviewed 7/4/99

Alexander Payne's directorial skills have progressed nicely since his first film Citizen Ruth where it was already pretty good. Payne's choice of camera placement and timing are strong assets in his second feature, the black comedy Election. His irreverent tone and unpredictable plotting reminds me of David O. Russell of Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster fame, and that's a strong compliment. What both writer-directors do so well is find the absurdity and hypocrisy in societal norms.

In Election, Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is your average high school civics teacher until he encounters overachiever Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon). Jim finds Tracy's single-mindedness in trying to become Student Council President so disturbing that he locates a rival for her in the school's popular but buffoonish ex-star athlete, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein). Paul's lesbian sister, Tammy (Jessica Campbell), thinks Paul has stolen her girlfriend and so for revenge, she runs against him for Student Council President. This is the promising setup in one of the most deft film portraitures of American high school life in years.

While all the characters except Jim are caricatures, they do what caricatures are supposed to do -- carry within them in exaggerated form the essential truths of what the caricature represents. But Payne also gives them a human side. Tracy's New Age ideas of empowerment, Paul's blind altruism, and Tammy's beliefs in true love are ridiculous, but we feel for them when they succeed or fail in achieving their hopes and dreams because we feel how sincere they are. That's not to say we necessarily root for them, but we can at least understand them. Perhaps contrary to expectations, Payne does not subscribe to heroes and villains in Election. The film's lone adult protagonist, Jim, turns out to be as frivolous and hypocritical as anyone else. All the actors are up to task and shine, respectively, though I have to give extra kudos to Witherspoon for willing to look so unrelentingly foolish.

For once, the look of the actors have a semblance to reality. None are unbelievably gorgeous or glamorous like the stock casts of most Hollywood high school pictures. The exception is Witherspoon, but her looks can at least provide an explanation for how she garners votes wherefore she is otherwise unpopular.

For the most part, the humor is subtle, though there are a few big laugh-out-loud moments (especially if you're a New Yorker and see it in New York City). Payne reduces student government to the resume fodder it is and shows us that the ends don't justify the means, particularly when they are so trivial. My only complaint is that the film is a bit too convoluted and uneven in parts.