Election
Short description
Election is set at a Nebraska high school, where a popular civics teacher named Jim McAllister grows alarmed by the ruthless ambition of Tracy Flick, a student who is running unopposed for student body president. Believing she has learned the wrong lessons about winning, he recruits a good-natured football player, Paul Metzler, to run against her. What begins as one man's attempt to make a point turns into a messy, increasingly personal campaign that pulls in Paul's sister and draws unwanted attention to McAllister's own life and conduct.
Alexander Payne directed the film, his second feature after Citizen Ruth, from a screenplay he wrote with Jim Taylor. The cast includes Matthew Broderick as McAllister, Reese Witherspoon as Tracy, Chris Klein as Paul, Jessica Campbell as Tammy, Mark Harelik as Dave Novotny and Phil Reeves as Walt Hendricks. It was produced by Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa and Keith Samples, and made for about 25 million dollars.
Released in April 1999, the film earned roughly 15 million dollars worldwide, a modest return against its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.3 out of 10 from over 102,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.9 from around 1,200 votes. A critics' score of 7.9 from 115 reviews places it somewhat above the audience ratings.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot in a real high school, and regular classes continued in classrooms adjacent to the filming locations. In some scenes, the voices of real students and teachers can be heard in the distance. Director Alexander Payne decided not to remove them to give the film greater authenticity.
- The apples on the apple tree in Mrs. Novotny's yard were tied to the branches.
- Chris Klein's debut. Director Alexander Payne was looking for a school for filming, and at one of the schools in Omaha, he met Klein. Although other actors auditioned for the role of Paul, Payne decided to give it to Klein (and they didn't film at the school where they met).
- Real high school students participated in the scenes in the gymnasium, but there weren't enough of them, as exam time had already arrived, and many students found that working as extras was a long and often tedious task. The plot required all the seats in the gym stands to be occupied, and Alexander Payne asked the extras to sit in a different place before each new take – and repeat this two or three times. In editing, it was made to appear as if all the seats were occupied.
- On the 3rd day of filming in Omaha, Thora Birch, who had been cast as Tammy, left the film due to disagreements with director Alexander Payne.
- According to director Alexander Payne, this is any film on the political theme of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.
- After the release of this film and its critical success, actress Reese Witherspoon was unable to find work for nearly a year, as she had become associated with the image of the toxic and domineering Tracy Flick.
- Reese Witherspoon originally auditioned for the role of Tammy Metzler.
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