ELECTION B+
USA (103 mi) 1999 ‘Scope d: Alexander Payne
I really must insist you help me win the election tomorrow because I deserve it.
—Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) in a plea to God for help
An early dose of Alexander Payne’s medicine, still, in my view, his best film, which features a mix of biting, sarcastic humor that comes close to caricature right alongside humans sliding into the abyss of their moral fallibility, literally paying a price for their horrible mistakes in life. It’s a difficult line to straddle, as the tone is light and breezy, a reflection of Middle America, where people work hard to earn a living and establish good social standing, yet somehow remain vulnerable to life’s temptations. This film shows how easy it is for anyone to cave in to sleazy, unethical behavior when it presents itself and then live the rest of their lives in denial about it. Matthew Broderick plays Mr. McAllister, a high school history teacher who enjoys his work, as it gives him a sense of importance and responsibility, but living in Omaha, Nebraska, nothing controversial or earth shattering ever happens, so he’s developed a tired sense of routine, sensing nothing exciting will ever come his way, weighed down by his loveless and childless marriage. Reese Witherspoon is pitch perfect as Tracy Flick, an iconic Type A over-achiever in sweater vests, so believable that she steals the picture and makes this one of her most memorable roles, the blond, ruthlessly competitive, over eager high school student running for student council president, the creepy kind of girl that always raises her hand in class and has that plastic, phony smile stamped on her face, who never says no to an opportunity so long as she can be in charge, heading more than half a dozen activities after school. This is a girl with a cheerful and ready answer for just about anything, but who quite calculatingly would also step over anyone to get her way and certainly wasn’t going to let a cute, popular athlete jeopardize her chance of winning something that rightfully belongs to her, a position she’s spent her LIFE preparing for, as she’s prim, proper, poised, polite, well—perfect with her Pick Flick buttons and cupcakes. Because of her manic and irritating way of literally taking control, most people simply leave her alone and don’t stand in her way, allowing her to think she’s accomplishing something when the truth is closer to nothing ever changes, at least not in Omaha.
Mr. McAllister has a chip on his shoulder and already holds a grudge against Tracy, as he’s seen what she can do when his supposedly happily married best friend, a fellow teacher at his school, was fired after it was discovered he was concealing a sexual relationship with Tracy, claiming they were “in love.” Tracy never claimed she was coerced, admitted it was consensual, but she’s underage so clearly she’s the victim, yet Mr. McAllister continues to harbor misogynist feelings as he laments the loss of his friend, somehow blaming Tracy who’s now running unopposed for class president, a position that works closely with Mr. McAllister in the upcoming year, a thought he dreads with a passion. With that in mind, he encourages another student to run against her, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), a dim but likeable jock who suffered a season ending injury while skiing in the off season, feeling a void in his life without athletics. This only fires up Tracy, who vows to work even harder, driven by the corporate example of how Coca Cola remains number one, as they outspend their competition. An interesting device used by the director is his multiple use of interior narration, where the inner thoughts of several characters are exposed revealing their true motives and intentions, also a freeze frame technique where time is literally stopped while a character explains themselves in greater detail. What we discover is a layer of hidden ulterior motives, largely fed by self centered impulses, tucked underneath the artificial exterior that we use to show the world who we are. In this film, it’s hard to tell which is the real person, the one they want to be, or the one they really are, as both seem to be vying for control. This duality of good and evil suggests our own moral choices are quite tenuous, as rather than hard and firm beliefs, our guard could be let down at any moment allowing the greedy, selfish impulses to take over.
It’s not easy to examine the hypocrisy of human behavior, and to do so in a comedy, but this film does a pretty good job, especially with the introduction of Paul’s younger sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell), who is just discovering her lesbian impulses, though not yet acknowledging that she’s gay. But when she is rejected, and her former girl friend (Frankie Ingrassia) ever so casually becomes her brother Paul’s girl friend instead (proving she’s not gay), actually taking over the running of his campaign for president, this catapults Tammy into her own candidacy for president. Unlike the promised sincerity of the other two, however, pledging ways to improve their school, Tammy opens her speech with the remark, “Who cares about this stupid election?” Tammy offers the refreshing thoughts that reflect how most kids feel, that the only person it really matters to is the winner, as nobody else even cares. Inexplicably, Tammy is the huge audience favorite at the assembly, where students stand up and cheer, sending the administration into emergency damage control, as her views do not reflect the school’s intended message of civic pride and responsibility. Tammy is the unsung hero of this film, as she’s the only character in a movie filled with despicable people who actually says what she means. It’s a joy to watch her spend time in her favorite spot where she goes to be alone, a giant grassy field overlooking a massive power station. But the movie has more devious intentions, as it’s really about dishonesty, exposing the seamy underside of student council elections, where the election is a stand-in for any human endeavor where we face a choice, a moral dilemma. The question becomes, just how far would we go, what steps would we take to prevent what we perceive as a horrible outcome? Would we cross the line of ethical behavior to prevent it from happening? And simultaneously, how far would we go to get what we want? Don’t we all have the same conniving Tracy Flick attributes coded into our genetic DNA? But don’t we just suppress it, as it makes us too uncomfortable to think we’re that deceitful? In the end, of course, humans are that deceitful all the time, never bothering to think about the casualties of people hurt along the way.
