Election

Mom and I have each watched our first movies. Here is our email exchange over ELECTION. Discussions on HARVEY to follow.

From Mom:
Well son, I just finished Election. Very quirky! I liked it!! There were a couple of times that I
actually laughed out loud.
I thought the character development was very good, because I connected to
the characters quickly. I loved the speech that Tammy gave at the election
assembly.It was one of my favorite parts. Then the whole scene getting ready for the "afternoon delight" was hysterical!!!
I would have to say that I enjoyed it, and I would recommend this movie to my middle-aged friends!! What are your thoughts??

Tony's Response:
What I liked so much about Election was its very "warts and all" portrayal of high school. There are a few great high school movies (stuff John Hughes did was always good in a hyper-reality kind of way) but for the most part high school movies are a lot of blown out, bubble gum pop. There is a comedic darkness to this movie that is much closer to what I remember high school being like than any of the slew of movies where it all culminates in the loser getting the girl at prom or so and so hooking up with the girl at a huge party.
The teachers were pathetic, miserable, spiteful and none of them were the evil hardasses or wise old sages that we typically see them as. I loved that the jock was everything a jock is EXCEPT a douche bag. He was popular, an all-star athlete and otherwise just a dude.
There were lots of little touches, specifically how frank Tammy and Paul were in their voice overs, that really killed me. I'm think of eating the asparagus to see if their pee smells funny and the giving each other hand jobs in the hot tub.
I can't say enough how great Broderick and Witherspoon were in this. Ferris Bueller himself as such a lame grown-up alone would have been great, but the way they play off each other, the way they absolutely HATE one another...it's the kind of thing I wish happened more in movies.
All in all, Election made me wonder how much some of my high school teachers just loathed the Tracy Flicks running around the halls. And if any of them were sleeping together.

From Mom:
I agree with you. It was an accurate portrayal of real people in high school. The voice overs were particularly good as you mentioned. It was that little extra insight into their heads, and it played out well in that form. I love that Broderick's characters demise is because the janitor rats him out. Such poetic justice for the janitor.