User Reviews

'Election' builds relatively slowly though really does become a fun movie by its conclusion. It's most definitely worth a watch. Matthew Broderick is excellent throughout, as are the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein. The films goes to some unexpected places and manages to make it work. And there's a great callback in there too. I will say that I didn't love the internal monologue bits, but they didn't derail the film for me in any major way.

I had heard several great things about Election, and when I saw the film for myself I can totally see the praise for the film. It is filmed and directed beautifully, and the soundtrack is cool. The story is strong with a good structure without being too simplistic or complicated and doesn't fall into the predictability trap, and the humour is just great, there is some clever black humour but there is also some room for some quirkiness as well. The characters are engaging, even Reese Witherspoon's and I can understand where some are coming from when they say she is annoying. This is Matthew Broderick's most likable character since Ferris Bueller in my opinion. Both Broderick and Witherspoon give some of their best work here, and Chris Klein is a welcome presence without overdoing the humour or feeling out of place. All in all, a fantastic movie. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is very much a quirky, MTV type film. The characters are somewhat stereotyped, with the high school swot and the sports jock. Its a reasonably easy watch I suppose, although there are some sex references and strong language present at times, its perhaps a little crude, which might embarrass some I suppose. The cast are good and its amusing at times.I suppose really its about pettiness, in different ways. I thought it was a pretty entertaining and reasonably good film overall - its not especially long, which is just as well I'd say. If this interests you, I'd say its worth a watch - its not brilliant but its pretty good.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Voting Without Any Care. Election Payne writes like a twelve year old boy does in his personal diary. Without any care of the structure or grammar, he just writes, honestly. He blatantly spits out all the emotions in layman terms, so free and so simple in his command over the film, that he moves everyone with it. His knack of projecting the tiniest aspect of the novel that he is adapting from, thrusts the entire film to a busy environment that you cannot help but get engaged in it. Somewhat Scorsese-like in his methods, his film is hilariously smart. The observational comedy is his approach and the result is basically a riot of laughter. There is sincerity in each scene of the film and there are aplenty in here, he takes care of all the perspective and with a stable pace, he drives smoothly off the town like a sheriff. This illuminating satire of social and political world that we neglect every now and then, is one of the quirkiest and strongest film to set in a college field. Witherspoon, committing in her sassy-ness brings out a gutsy hatred towards her from us every time she speaks and that is her real win. The annoyance and eye scratching body language of hers shows powerful finesse on her acting. Klein and Campbell- the Metzlers- are completely opposite to Witherspoon, they are adorable and instantly likable on screen, although their performance isn't as convincing as Witherspoon. Broderick is the victim, the character for pity and to be rooted, often fumbling and wrong in his decisions, he humanizes the character through slick humor on being the butt of the joke; something not everyone is able to pull off on a screen. Election is exactly like the real ones, sugar coated in a college life it attracts the viewer to this not-so-absorbing concept with open arms.

At first glance, Election may appear to be just another high school flick, but it's actually far from being so. Alexander Payne's superb screenplay asks a plethora of surprisingly difficult moral questions. It also features some very very compelling and sophisticated characters played by equally brilliant actors who delivered remarkable performances, especially Matthew Broderick's. You won't appreciate the incredibly nuanced characters until you think about them, and their actions more than once after finishing the movie. Add to that the fact that Payne's intelligent script never tried to rely on tired exposition techniques to flesh out his characters, but instead he used a lot of subtle references and nuances to make us identify with these characters even without the slightest reliance on sentimentality. That said, I think Tracy Flick, played by Reese Witherspoon, should have been way more sympathetic, because I felt almost zero pity for her! The dark humor enriches the satirical aspect of the movie, but halfway through the movie the tone changed a great deal and became so dark. The thing that made the tone inconsistent with the first and the third act. Payne heavy usage of V.O.s and freeze frames gave the movie its own style, and also made it feel more lighthearted. I loved how the movie made all its characters flawed, but in a way that really adds more depth to these characters, and made them fully-developed and lifelike. Whether it is a main, or side character, each one of them will resonate with the viewer in many different ways. The movie, however, delves into some characters more than needed. As I think there are a couple of characters' sub-plots that could have been completely cut from the script without affecting anything essential to the main plot. The denouement was very rushed and unfocused that made me think that the movie actually run out of steam. Fortunately, the ending was quite good, if not as clever as the rest of the movie. (7.5/10)

The most impressive thing to me about this movie is that it may or may not have been cast according to who happened to be hot enough at the time... and somehow everybody seems like the absolute perfect choice for their respective roles. Everything else that's good about this movie has no doubt already been said.

Election is the type of satire where one is more likely to wince than laugh. It is a bit dark and edgy and is reminiscent of American Beauty. The performances are good, though a bit overwrought. Election, while not thoroughly enjoyable, is a still a remarkable film.

This has got to be one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. It is a very darkly comedic satire that looks into some pretty tough subjects for a high school comedy. But, "Election" isn't really just a high school comedy, it is a look at a set of character who are, mostly, pretty pathetic people, who you both despise yet feel very bad for at the same time. Alexander Payne has gone on to make a lot more well received comedy dramas including "Sideways", The Descendants", and "Nebraska". I still have yet to see these films, but after watching "election", I'm sure they'll be spectacular!

Election is certainly a very well made and very entertaining little flick (heh) with some great acting from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, but I don't know, I just didn't love it. Alexander Payne's direction is great as always and this one is a very interesting film on the ethics of how far one will go to have success and, above all, is an interesting snapshot of life at this particular high school and in the lives of these kids. The writing is also strong, but ultimately, I just felt like this one meandered a bit. All of it is an exercise in ethics and morals, sure, but I wish it stayed more focused on the election rather than focusing on the personal life of Broderick's character or past events at the school. Adding a bit more depth to the race for Student Government President and disregarding other events a bit would ultimately result in a better film in my mind (though obviously some of the events I wish to shrink are necessary, but I don't think they needed to play as much of a role in the overall story as they did). As a whole, I can certainly see why Election is so widely praised, but I just didn't love it, I guess.

Election is a witty, satirical, hilarious dark comedy. Its high school setting is surprisingly realistic, and every character has a real purpose in the story. Broderick and Witherspoon are great as the leads, and it is a treat to watch their awkward, teacher-student conversations. There is character development, twists, turns, and enough laughs to make Election worth a watch.

Alexander Payne showed us his talent with this 90's classic, a great high school film full of great lines and great black comedy. Nice work by Witherspoon, Broderick and Kline.

Election is a spot on movie about elections, characters and black comedy mixed in for fun. The actors give great lines and they feel like their the character's, they don't seem like they are acting when you watch the movie. Election is one of the best comedy-dramas of the last twenty years !

Acerbic humor and subtly brilliant performances highlight Alexander Payne's "Election," a brilliantly dark film with mirthfully unlikable characters and some playfully indelible imagery.

Having been involved in a scandal resulting in a high school teacher losing his job and family Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) is determined to win the election for student-body president. When her teacher, Mr. McAllister (Broderick), realises he may be forced to spend the next year working closely with a girl he can't stand he convinces the popular, but not particularly bright, Paul Meltzer to run against her. A satirical comedy of the American electoral process Election has a dark sense of humor throughout with much of the comedy arising from the gradual unraveling of Mr. McAllister's life and it is largely thanks its more subtle nature that it managers to differentiate itself from the endless string of high-school movies of the late nineties. Resisting the temptation to utilise the usual cliched high school characters Election fully explores the motivations of each of the, very well cast, main characters with Reece Witherspoon in particular playing her role to perfection. As relevant now as it was when released Election would make an excellent addition to any movie collection.

This movie is so great and unique! I am not particularly fond of Matthew Broderick, and he is really detestable in this movie, but he plays a **** bag to perfection. Reese Witherspoon is also on point. Seriously, this movie is an unusual treat. I can't really compare it to anything else I have seen.

Rigged: Routines and Dreams in Alexander Payneâ