Election (1999)

Directed by Alexander Payne. Starring Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Phil Reeves, Delaney Driscoll, Frankie Ingrassia, Molly Hagan, Mark Harelik, Nicholas D’Agosto, Colleen Camp. [R]

Whip-smart, hysterical black comedy chronicling a Nebraska high school student body election, with long-suffering and resentful civics teacher Broderick overseeing the process and witnessing the lengths that young Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) will go to in order to win. Payne’s sophomore feature, which he co-wrote with Jim Taylor from a novel by Tom Perrotta, is not only sharply-observed and all-too-credible even amid the heightened sense of irony, but also unafraid to take risks; it’s the droll mastery of tone that makes it all work so well, whether it comes to maintaining its wicked wit throughout or the use of juxtaposition to keep things absorbingly off-kilter. The cast acquits itself very well, especially Witherspoon, never better than the ultimate overachiever whose perky demeanor (poorly) masks her utter ruthlessness and entitlement, and Broderick, who somehow earns some measure of sympathy despite being a deeply unethical person himself (don’t be surprised if, after watching this film, Ferris Bueller is no longer what you immediately think of when combining the phrases “Matthew Broderick” and “high school”). Klein’s film debut.

92/100