Election
3/4
poster

Details & Information from IMDB

Genre Teen
Year 1999
Duration 103 min
Rating 7.4 out of 10
Description: Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is a Social Studies teacher at Carver High. A student of his, Tracy Flick (Reese Whiterspoon), tends to rub him the wrong way. Flick, a loner and ambitious girl, decides to run for class president. McAllister convinces football player Paul (Chris Klein) to run against her. His lesbian sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell) joins the election after her girlfriend starts going out with Paul. During the campaigns, Tracy plays dirty, plying students with muffins and gum. Tammy adopts an anarchist attitude that the student body responds to. Paul has few skills to offer the position. Meanwhile, McAllister's going through a bad time with his wife.
Comments: A unique microcosm of politics in the U.S. is shown in "Election", one of the most interesting productions of 1999. Set in a high school, young over-achiever Reese Witherspoon feels that she should be the next student council president. Teacher Matthew Broderick feels that Witherspoon is an evil and manipulative person who just thinks about herself and her own status. Enter dumb jock Chris Klein, who does have a good heart and a fair amount of popularity. Broderick talks him into running and the madness begins. Add Klein's lesbian sister, Broderick's torrid affair and ballot tampering and you have a film that shows its intelligence and shows the lengths that people will go to further their own lives at the expense of others. Neat and smart little satire. Some parts seem to be foreshadowers to the awful presidential election of 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. 4 stars out of 5.