Election

There's a new book out that claims 1999 was the "Best. Movie. Year. Ever." I don't quite agree, but looking at the roster of the films that came out that year, one thing stands out--there were a lot of original movies--no sequels, reboots, or tent-poles. I have a handful of them on DVD, so over the year I can revisit some of them (one listed, The Blair Witch Project, can be found already discussed on this blog).

If 1999 is the best movie year ever, my favorite film of the year is Election, directed by Alexander Payne. I distinctly remember when I saw it. It opened in April, and I was unemployed, but my friend Paula and I spent a gorgeous spring day in New York City, and I laughed my head off at this film.

Based on a novel by Tom Perotta, Election is a simulacrum of modern American society and politics through the prism of a high school election for student council president. It pits an overachieving student (Reese Witherspoon), versus an idealistic teacher (Matthew Broderick), who sees her willing to do whatever she can do get what she wants. counter to American values. Of course, he will end up being the ethically challenged one and loses everything.

As the film begins, Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) is the only candidate for president in her suburban, white high school. History teacher Mr. McAllister (Broderick), who tellingly gives a lecture on ethics and morals, can't stand her, and recruits a polite, popular football star (Chris Klein) to run against her. For a while, his younger sister (Julia Campbell) makes a third candidate, and as an in-the-closet lesbian, preaches anarchy.

Witherspoon wins the election by one vote (Klein doesn't vote for himself) but Broderick throws away two of her votes. But he is found out, and along with him losing his wife for planning an affair with his friend's ex-wife, he is destroyed.

For Payne, this was part of a run of terrific black comedies (along with Citizen Ruth, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska) that I think was his best. The film percolates with both humor and a gimlet eye on the pitfalls of democracy and elections. His script, co-written with Jim Taylor, juggles four different narrators--the three candidates and Broderick--without becoming bogged down or overly complex. Both characters in this clash think of themselves as righteous, while they are both horrible.

For this latest viewing I watched the DVD with Payne's commentary, and he pointed out a few things I hadn't noticed. One is that Broderick is associated with circles, a man who never gets where he wants to go, and Witherspoon with straight lines--she knows exactly what she wants. It also has a tremendous amount of shots of garbage, and garbage plays a great part in the plot (Payne jokes that the film could have been retitled "Revenge of the Janitor").

Witherspoon was 23 when the film was made, but perfectly embodies that know-it-all kid who has to be on every committee. They are good for student government, but somehow they rub you the wrong way. Witherspoon captures the elements of Tracy's personality--her perfect posture, her alert eyes, her flared nostrils. One thing I didn't buy in the film is that she would ever sleep with a teacher (Broderick's buddy, who gets fired over it)--Tracy really has no sexuality (in the book she is much more of a slut).

Witherspoon was nominated for a Golden Globe, but I think Broderick holds the picture together with a magnificent performance (his best ever) as a man struggling with his own demons while trying to be a good teacher. Doing some time as a teacher myself, it was fun to see how he was lax on rules that the other kids were trying to enforce. He tosses Tracy's signatures in the garbage (there, garbage again). When the student who counts the votes says he can't tell Broderick who he counted as winner, Broderick says, "We're not electing the fucking pope. Who won?" His short sleeves and tie and beat-up Ford Fiesta are the accoutrements of a defeated man.

I also loved the affair subplot. He prepares for an assignation at a motel (including a very funny shot of him scrubbing his underparts), but gets stung by a bee on the eyelid. When the woman doesn't show, he finds her at his house, obviously having revealed all to his wife. He just slinks out of the room, saying "Okay." Later, when he was discovered by the school administration, he walks into his principal's office with a jaunty "You rang?" to see the participants of his downfall. Later, he comes across Witherspoon in Washington, D.C. and throws a soda cup at her limo. Payne points out that it's a perfect way for a characters arc to end--running away and being called an asshole.

Other aspects of Election make it work so well--it's believable about high school students and teachers (Phil Leeds is perfect as the principal), with the actors not too old looking (except for a few actors, they were all played by the students at the school where they were filming). There are also terrific uses of techniques like freeze frames and wipes, and one great use of an actor breaking the fourth wall. A shot that got great laughs in 1999 was Broderick in his New York apartment, the bathtub in the kitchen, with a price tag of 1,500 a month. That would seem a steal now.

Election was a box office dud (and one of the first and last of films by MTV). Maybe it was the horrible poster, or maybe nobody wanted to see a film about high school politics. But it was very well-reviewed, Oscar-nominated (for Adapted Screenplay) and has stood the test of time so far.