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Election [DVD] [] [1 disc] [Region 1]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

Director Alexander (CITIZEN RUTH) Payne's second film, based on the novel by Tom Perotta, takes the scandal and mudslinging associated with presidential elections and transposes them to a high school election for student council president in Nebraska- with impossibly sharp, satirical results. Matthew Broderick, in a reversal of FERRIS BUELLER, plays Jim McAllister, a teacher who will stop at nothing to prevent perfect Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), who is running unopposed, from winning the election. Jim, who bears a personal grudge against Tracy, goads a popular but dim football player (Chris Klein) into running against her. This spurs on a series of strange events (both madcap and surprisingly sexual), which add up to an uncommonly funny high school film for adults. Performances are great all-around, and Payne uses shifting narration and a series of freeze frames to give the film a rich and layered feel.
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Credits

Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Mark Harelik, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Phil Reeves
Critic Reviews

"...ELECTION is a wonderfully acidulous satire....[The film] turns the usual conventions of the high-school comedy on their head..."
Sight and Sound
"...Mr. Broderick knows how to make a fool of himself in very funny ways, and he gives a sneakily good performance here..."
New York Times
"...Devilishly subversive....Scathing, smart and serious-funny....When it comes to eloquently telling it like it is, ELECTION puts the nation's political pundits to shame..."
USA Today
"...[An] insidiously funny satire....Smart, sophisticated..."
Variety
"...Briskly paced, painfully funny and pretty much unmissable..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
Total Film
"...Sharp and merciless....A cheerful nightmare that knows just where it wants to go and uses precisely calibrated comic effects to get there..."
Los Angeles Times
"...A wicked satire....[Witherspoon] hits her full stride in ELECTION..."
Chicago Sun-Times