SummaryThis satirical comedy uses a high school election as the backdrop to take an uncommon look at ambition, morality, desire, love and the lies we never cease telling ourselves. [Paramount Pictures]
SummaryThis satirical comedy uses a high school election as the backdrop to take an uncommon look at ambition, morality, desire, love and the lies we never cease telling ourselves. [Paramount Pictures]
This is a nearly flawless little film, a cheerful nightmare that knows just where it wants to go and uses precisely calibrated comic effects to get there.
American satire rarely comes more winning than Election, an exuberantly caustic comedy that shows the symbiotic relationship between political go-get-'em-ism and moral backsliding.
At best, the humour in Election is perceptive, nasty, pointed, and lets no one off its barbed hook, not even the audience. In other words, it's a lovely piece of satire, made all the more relevant by the setting.
Happily, this irreverent, sharply observant comedy sweeps us into the maelstrom too. Amid the glut of teen movies rolling out of the studios every week, Election deserves special attention.
Election is certainly a very well made and very entertaining little flick (heh) with some great acting from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, but I don't know, I just didn't love it. Alexander Payne's direction is great as always and this one is a very interesting film on the ethics of how far one will go to have success and, above all, is an interesting snapshot of life at this particular high school and in the lives of these kids. The writing is also strong, but ultimately, I just felt like this one meandered a bit. All of it is an exercise in ethics and morals, sure, but I wish it stayed more focused on the election rather than focusing on the personal life of Broderick's character or past events at the school. Adding a bit more depth to the race for Student Government President and disregarding other events a bit would ultimately result in a better film in my mind (though obviously some of the events I wish to shrink are necessary, but I don't think they needed to play as much of a role in the overall story as they did). As a whole, I can certainly see why Election is so widely praised, but I just didn't love it, I guess.