Day 35: Election

What happens to a man when he loses everything? Everything he's worked for... everything he believes in? Driven from his home... cast out of society... how can he survive? Where can he go? New York City! For centuries people have come to New York seeking refuge from their troubled lives. Now I am one of them.

Like most Alexander Payne films, “Election” suggests the idea that mediocrity isn’t and should never been seen as characteristic of failure. This dark comedy is a film that is able to intertwine multiple point of views and storylines effortlessly, a task that most filmmakers aren’t able to pull off without seeming contrived or pretentious. Starring an ensemble cast that include Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, and Jessica Campbell; it’s a film that plays into each actors strengths. Whether it be Broderick’s knack for playing the snobbish neurotic character or Witherspoon’s uncanny ability to pull off the annoying yet cynical high school teenager. This isn’t exactly a high school movie but it serves as a perfect backdrop for a story about a mans downfall and eventual realization of his own meaning in life.

“Election” is a story about a successful civics teacher, Jim McAllister, that clashes with a overachieving deceiving student, Tracy Flick. McAllister’s hatred for Flick not only arise from her role in the destruction of one of his closest friends but to also distract him from his personal failures outside of school. These two collide throughout the movie, both trying their hardest to sabotage each others lives. Tracy Flick running for Class President is the worst thing that McAllister can hear, simply because of the idea of Tracy soon becoming successful and running the lives of people for years to come. Flick is shows her resiliency while overcoming her running mate, Paul Metzler (Klein). Metzler is used as a pawn in McAllister’s ongoing chess match against Tracy Flick; McAllister puts the idea in Metzler’s head that he can beat Flick and be more than just a dumb joke.

This film constantly pushes the viewer to pick on subtle yet vital hints throughout the film, in order to put all of the pieces together. It’s all delivered with witty dialog at an alarming pace. Even with all of the storylines being presented to you by different points of views, this film never strays away from the mission of Jim McAllister; to defeat this potential Hitler that is Tracy Flick. Yet, victory takes it’s own new meaning when McAllister’s plans to sabotage this overachiever don’t go according to plan. The audience is left with a new outlook on what’s really important in life and the idea that perhaps one needs to lose everything that wasn’t worth holding in order to be truly happy and have a clean slate.