every now and then a movie comes along from a suspect studio , with every indication that it will be a stinker , and to everybody’s surprise ( perhaps even the studio ) the film becomes a critical darling .
mtv films’ _election , a high school comedy starring matthew broderick and reese witherspoon , is a current example .
did anybody know this film existed a week before it opened ?
the plot is deceptively simple .
george washington carver high school is having student elections .
tracy flick ( reese witherspoon ) is an over-achiever with her hand raised at nearly every question , way , way , high .
mr . ” m ” ( matthew broderick ) , sick of the megalomaniac student , encourages paul , a popular-but-slow jock to run .
and paul’s nihilistic sister jumps in the race as well , for personal reasons .
the dark side of such sleeper success is that , because expectations were so low going in , the fact that this was quality stuff made the reviews even more enthusiastic than they have any right to be .
you can’t help going in with the baggage of glowing reviews , which is in contrast to the negative baggage that the reviewers were likely to have .
_election , a good film , does not live up to its hype .
what makes _election_ so disappointing is that it contains significant plot details lifted directly from _rushmore_ , released a few months earlier .
the similarities are staggering :
tracy flick ( _election_ ) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs , and is involved with the school play .
max fischer ( _rushmore_ ) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs , and is involved with the school play .
the most significant tension of _election_ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student .
the most significant tension of _rushmore_ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student .
tracy flick is from a single parent home , which has contributed to her drive .
max fischer is from a single parent home , which has contributed to his drive .
the male bumbling adult in _election_ ( matthew broderick ) pursues an extramarital affair , gets caught , and his whole life is ruined .
he even gets a bee sting .
the male bumbling adult in _rushmore_ ( bill murray ) pursues an extramarital affair , gets caught , and his whole life is ruined .
he gets several bee stings .
and so on .
what happened ?
how is it that an individual screenplay ( _rushmore_ ) and a novel ( _election_ ) contain so many significant plot points , and yet both films were probably not even aware of each other , made from two different studios , from a genre ( the high school geeks revenge movie ) that hadn’t been fully formed yet ?
even so , the strengths of _election_ rely upon its fantastic performances from broderick , witherspoon , and newcomer jessica campbell , as paul’s anti-social sister , tammy .
broderick here is playing the mr . rooney role from _ferris bueller_ , and he seems to be having the most fun he’s had since then .
witherspoon is a revelation .
it’s early in the year , it’s a comedy , and teenagers have little clout , but for my money , witherspoon deserves an oscar nomination .
and once campbell’s character gets going , like in her fantastic speech in the gymnasium , then you’re won over .
one thing that’s been bothering me since i’ve seen it .
there is an extraordinary amount of sexuality in this film .
i suppose that , coming from mtv films , i should expect no less . . .
but the film starts off light and airy , like a sitcom .
as the screws tighten , and the tensions mount , alexander payne decides to add elements that , frankly , distract from the story .
it is bad enough that mr . m doesn’t like tracy’s determination to win at all costs , but did they have to throw in the student/teacher relationship ?
even so , there’s no logical reason why mr . m has an affair when he does .
there’s a lot to like in _election_ , but the plot similarities to _rushmore_ , and the tonal nosedive it takes as it gets explicitly sex-driven , mark this as a disappointment .