Election
Directed by Alexander Payne • 1999 • United States
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Chris Klein
Perky, overachieving high schooler Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) gets on the nerves of social-studies teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) to begin with, but after she launches her campaign for student-body president and his personal life starts to fall apart, things spiral out of control. In Alexander Payne’s satire ELECTION, the teacher becomes unhealthily obsessed with cutting his student down to size, covertly backing a spoiler candidate to stop her from steamrolling to victory, and putting in motion a series of dirty tricks and reckless promises with uncanny real-world political parallels. Adapting a then-unpublished novel by Tom Perrotta, Payne grounds the absurdity of his central dynamic in the recognizable—the setting is his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and the accomplished cast is rounded out with nonprofessionals—and distills his closely observed take on deeply flawed humanity to its bitter but stealthily sympathetic essence.
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Election
Directed by Alexander Payne • 1999 • United States
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Chris KleinPerky, overachieving high schooler Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) gets on the nerves of social-studies teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) to begin with, but after she launches h...
Extras
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ELECTION Commentary
This audio commentary, featuring director Alexander Payne, was recorded in 1999.
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THE PASSION OF MARTIN Introduction
This 2017 introduction features director Alexander Payne discussing his UCLA thesis film, THE PASSION OF MARTIN.
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The Passion of Martin
Alexander Payne’s forty-nine-minute UCLA thesis film, The PASSION OF MARTIN, was screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and won an array of awards.
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Reese Witherspoon on ELECTION
This interview with actor Reese Witherspoon was conducted by the Criterion Collection in Los Angeles in August 2017.
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ELECTION on Local News
The following report aired on CBS’s Omaha affiliate KMTV-TV in 1997 and features behind-the-scenes footage from the production of ELECTION.
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“truInside”: ELECTION
This March 7, 2016, episode of truTV’s documentary series “truInside” provides an in-depth look at the making of ELECTION and features interviews with members of the cast and crew, including author Tom Perrotta, director Alexander Payne, and actors Matthew Broderick and Chris Klein.
