Election (1999) Review

Title: Election
Year: 1999
Director: Alexander Payne
Country: US
Language: English

Barack Obama twice named Election (1999) as his favourite policical film that he saw while in office. The film, inspired by the 1992 election in America, is a stinging satire of American politics. Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick character has lived on in pop culture, even in minds of those who have never seen the film, due to parodying the archetype of the Lisa Simpson-esque "know it all". She reminds people of Hilary Clinton so much, that even Clinton mentioned it when she met Witherspoon for  the first time. 

In this, a high school teacher's (Matthew Broderick) personal life becomes complicated as he works with students during the school elections, particularly with an obsessive overachiever  (Reese Witherspoon) determined to become student body president.

Ideas of destiny "You can’t interfere with destiny; that’s why it’s destiny,” free will and morality are all observed in Election, usually placed during weird conversations about sex and student council protocol. Mr.M (Broderick) seems to be constantly on the brink of a midlife crisis (he's a character that would fit well in a Coen Brothers movie) and his constant disruption of ethics make for a hilarious downfall for his character. 

Election is a smart movie with themes that dive quite deep, but its substance doesn't take away from the fi;m's immense catalogue of humor. There are some scenes that are so funny, Simpsons writers just had to steal them. Mr.Smither's "deathly allergy" to bees was directly inspired by Mr.M's allergic run-in. Ultimately, even though I enjoy their many other works, Election is both Broderick's and Witherspoon's greatest cinematic outing. 

The Academy Awards made Alexander Payne a household name with Sideways (2004), but he deserved the recognition a half a decade before when this film hit theatres. I appreciate the film's non-judgemental treatment of same-sex attraction, as films made during that time were often steeped with homophobia or misunderstanding (in American Beauty the gay guy happens to be the homophobe, oy) This picture is quite an achievement.