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Click above to purchase "Election" at amazon.com
Election
review by Zach B.
Rated R
Studio: Paramount
Running Time: 103 minutes
Starring Matthew Broderick, Reese Whiterspoon
Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta
Directed by Alexander Payne
Retail Price: $29.99
Features: Commentary with Alexander Payne
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital
English 5.1, English Dolby Surround, English Subtitles,
Chapter Search (18 Chapters)
Being the wonderful and nice person I am (I apologize for
the arrogance), I'll spare all of you on any pointless and
redudant United States presidential election jokes for this
review (start celebrating). While the presidential election
and this movie have their vote counting, "Election" is a
fun, witty and smart satire on a lot of things today in
society.
Jim McAllister is Carver High School's beloved U.S.
history teacher. He's well respected by his students and
faculty, and even holds the record for the most "Teacher of
the Year" wins at Carver. However, his life slowly begins to
crash down and become more and more hectic when Tracy Flick,
a lonely overachiever decides to run for student council
president at Carver High. McAllister is extremely bothered
by Tracy's annoying overachieving, and he decides to give
her a run for her money by convincing Paul, a popular
ex-jock (he hurt himself bad in a skiing accident) to run
against her. While Paul is a sweet and decent guy, he isn't
the sharpest tool in the shed. Now that Tracy's chances of
an automatic win are destroyed, she becomes more and more
intense. Things get even crazier, when Paul's lesbian sister
Tammy decides to run for president, in an attempt to get
revenge on her "true love". There are a few other plot
points and things which transpire which I have not
discussed, but I won't reveal them because they do end up
giving too much of the film away. All that I can say is that
things get funnier and funnier and crazier and crazier.
I saw "Election" in the theaters, and I enjoyed every
moment of it. I've seen the movie a few times now, and every
time I watch it, I seem to enjoy it more and more. The film
is really well executed and really entertaining, I really
like the whole narrative style from which the movie is told,
where we get many different perspectives from the main
characters. There are also a lot of funny moments in this
movie, and some really witty lines that will bring a smile
to your face.
I don't think this film has anything bad to say about it,
nearly everything is flawless. Alexander Payne ("Citizen
Ruth") directed this film, and his skills are masterful. His
technqiues and shots on screen are really well done and are
appreciated more because one would think that there is not
much to do when a good majority of the scenes take place in
a high school. I really like how he sets the film up and
takes you through it. It never gets dull, and the satire
keeps going on and on. The script, which he co-wrote with
Jim Taylor (based on Tom Perrota's novel), is really sharp
and well planned out. Again, there are some great lines and
great moments in the film (such as when the candidates
present their speeches).
Still, what I loved most about the movie were the
perfomances. While Reese Whitherspoon scored a Golden Globe
nod for her work as Tracy, I think this has been Matthew
Broderick's best role in years. Broderick as McAllister is
so perfect. All the actors have great chemistry and play off
well against one another. Chris Klein is also great as the
dopey Paul. Just some fantastic performances, and like many,
I was disappointed that they as well as the film were
snubbed for some major awards. Oh well, it did pick up a few
Independent Spirit Awards.
I'm sure all of us know or have known a person (or
people) like Tracy Flick. I've known plenty of them. People
who don't have any fun in life and just work for their own
benefit, and never stop to notice the simple things, things
that make life a lot more enjoyable. While it's pretty
evident in the film that Tracy wants to be big and does what
she does for college and personal gain, some people (like
Tracy) fail to realize is that school is only a small part
of your life, while those same people think grades and what
college you go to define everything, which isn't really the
case. Some who go to Ivy-League schools become nothing,
while others who don't go to a big as or good as college
become huge (or perhaps drop out of high school - but for
the kiddies, I reccomend you go to college).
The other themes and messages the film tackles on are
great. The irony of Mr. McAllister is that he teaches about
morals, while in a few situations cruical to the plot, he
doesn't have any at all. There's a lot of good commentary on
things that seem important to us today in this movie, so if
you like a great satire and that is really well made,
"Election" deserves a spot in your collection.
I was pretty disappointed with this transfer, it's not up
to Paramount's usual top-notch standard, and I felt such a
critically praised movie deserved some extra care. Probably
the most annoying thing in this transfer are the countless
debris particles and scratches that pop up. The first
chapter of the film looks dreadful, but it does clear up a
little after that, but there still is a good amount of the
grain and dirt. What also disappointed me how this transfer
doesn't have the "sharpness" that most Paramount discs tend
to have. Images at points do appear soft, and at other
points colors are murky and not well saturated. While I'm at
it, there are some artifacts that are distracting now and
then. On the positive though, the extra resolution in this
anamorphic transfer (presented in 2.35:1) does help a
little, and there are some scenes where colors . Still, it
seems like there was no effort in this transfer, like they
took any ol' print and just put it on the DVD.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 was a lot better than I expected.
This movie is not an action movie and is really about
dialogue, so surrounds aren't that plentiful. When they are
though, they sound pretty good. The cheers during the
speeches are nice and loud, and when McCallister has a
run-in with a bee. Music usually gives all the channels a
boost though. Not bad at all... if you have a decent sound
set-up, you won't be disappointed. English Dolby Surround is
also included, and there are English subtitles.
More recently, Paramount has been stocking their discs
with a lot more additional features. In the past however,
you'd be lucky if you got a single featurette. What tends to
bother me though is that sometimes they "cancel out". If
they have a good feature besides a theatrical trailer,
they'll sometimes leave the trailer out and just put on the
other feature (it's not all the time... but there are a good
amount of releases that have existing trailers but aren't on
the disc. I don't understand why they leave it out but what
the heck). "Election", an earlier Paramount disc, only
features a Commentary with Director and Co-Writer
Alexander Payne. I did see a trailer for this movie
several times, and alas, it's not on the disc. However,
Payne's commentary is welcome. There are some pauses now and
then, but I was very intrigued by his comments. Payne did
win a good number of awards and nods for the film and a lot
of critics praised it, but I was curious on what Payne had
to say on certain story aspects and certain shots used in
the film. Thankfully, he talked about the script and shots
in "Election" and answered nearly everything I wanted to
know about the film. Payne is relaxed and very informative,
this is an excellent track that all fans of the movie should
listen to. Truly one of the better tracks I've heard in the
past few months.
While the transfer is sort-of disappointing, the sound is
good for what it is and Payne's commentary is a nice
supplement for a wonderful film. If you've never seen the
film, I highly suggest you check it out. I think it's one of
the funniest comedies and one of the best satires that has
emerged out of Hollywood in the past few years.
 (4/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3.5/5)
(3.5/5)
 (1/5)
 (3/5,
NOT an average)
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