I finally saw Election this afternoon.
Something about high school that brings out our deepest sense of
hell.
In the dark and bleak spirit of Heathers,
Welcome to the Doll House (I think same director did Election,
but am unsure), and Opposite of Sex, Election takes us to high
school, land of types.
Reese Witherspoon is Tracy Flick, an
overachiever's overachiever, the only daughter of a doting para-legal
mother. Chris Klein is Paul, the rich high school quarterback who
breaks his leg on a Christmas ski trip. Unable to continue in
sports, he is now searching for meaning in his life (there's a
wonderful shot of him asleep with an opened Celistine Prophecy
book by his head). And his younger (and adopted) lesbian sister
Tammy is finding what it means to have a broken heart from
unrequited love. Klein is very Keanu Reeves like in his shallow
sweetness.
While most high school flicks of this type
ignore the adults (the exception being the delicious Opposite of
Sex, which gives us two wonderful portrayals of teachers),
Election provides us Everyman in the form and shape of a bumbling,
well-meaning history and civics teacher played by Matthew
Broderick.
Broderick put a lot of care in this performance
of a dowdy person who seems to love his job, yet who is obviously
reaching a mid-life crisis. Two scenes capture his character well,
one involving pornography, and one involving his running through
the halls, keys dangling on his side as he darts out of class on
a mission of love. There is something to be said for actors who
while having a limited range are able to pick roles that are
clever and interesting. Edward Norton is also such a actor.
There are multiple voice-over narrators from
these characters in this morality tale based on a suburban high
school's student council president election, and includes an
earnest lecture on the difference between morals and ethics and a
powerful bee sting. The dark side, banal and unremarkable,
appears more powerful than any of the Darth's seen in that other
movie.
