Election

"Reading. Writing. Revenge."

1999 1h 43m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,245

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

“Reading. Writing. Revenge.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Matthew Broderick
Jim McAllister
Reese Witherspoon
Tracy Flick
Chris Klein
Paul Metzler
Jessica Campbell
Tammy Metzler
Mark Harelik
Dave Novotny
Phil Reeves
Walt Hendricks
Molly Hagan
Diane McAllister
Delaney Driscoll
Linda Novotny

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alexander Payne
Writers: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 60% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alexander Payne, shot by James Glennon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kevin Tent shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Reading. Writing. Revenge.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0126886 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alexander Payne directs. James Glennon behind the camera. Rolfe Kent scores. Kevin Tent cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 60% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Alexander Payne, shot by James Glennon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Kevin Tent shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Reading. Writing. Revenge.".
8IMDB entry: tt0126886 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "infidelity", "high school", "jealousy", "politics".

The technical file

Cinematography: James Glennon
Original score: Rolfe Kent
Editing: Kevin Tent
Production design: Jane Ann Stewart
Costume design: Wendy Chuck
Makeup / hair: James Ryder
Sound: Patrick Cyccone Jr.
Stunt coordinator: Gary J. Wayton
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $14,902,041
Return: 60% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Election (1999)

Also by

Alexander Payne

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-09-14
★ 6/10
Amusing and compelling high school dramedy with Broderick and Witherspoon When a high achiever student (Reese Witherspoon) runs for president of the student body at her Omaha high school one of her teachers (Matthew Broderick) encourages an amiable jock to run against her (Chris Klein) because he finds her irritating. “Election” (1999) is a quirky high school dramedy in the mold of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982), but with a unique plot revolving around a school election. It’s not raunchy like the contemporaneous “American Pie” (except for one line by a teacher early on), but it is adult-oriented as there are several simulated sex scenes between various characters with no nudity. While they’re overt, they’re sorta amusing and fairly essential to the story. This is a must for anyone who’s a high school teacher as it understatedly satirizes the setting. The flick shows how easy it is for a good teacher with years of quality work to make a thoughtless mistake and suddenly fall out of grace. Yet it also shows redemption. Of course the film pokes fun at the election process and the rivalry of candidates, etc. There are a 2-3 laugh-out-loud scenes with Spaghetti Western music blaring (specifically, Ennio Morricone’s score from 1966’ "Navajo Joe"). Witherspoon is perfect as the female protagonist (although her face looks like Drew Barrymore on the poster), but I never found her alluring. I suppose Frankie Ingrassia (Lisa) and Jessica Campbell (Tammy) make up for it despite the eye-rolling lesbian component, which isn’t very substantive. The film runs 1 hour, 43 minutes and was shot in the Omaha, Nebraska, area (Papillion, Bellevue, LaVista, etc.) and, at the end, Washington DC. GRADE: B-
r96sk2022-07-13
★ 8/10
<em>'Election'</em> builds relatively slowly though really does become a fun movie by its conclusion. It's most definitely worth a watch. Matthew Broderick is excellent throughout, as are the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein. The films goes to some unexpected places and manages to make it work. And there's a great callback in there too. I will say that I didn't love the internal monologue bits, but they didn't derail the film for me in any major way.
CinemaSerf2023-08-28
★ 6/10
This early outing for Reese Witherspoon ("Tracy Flick") sees her desperate to become class President in her high school. Clever, ruthless and determined - she takes on all comers in her quest for success, and woe betide anyone who gets in her way. Happily hapless teacher Matthew Broderick is charged with overseeing the election campaign, and conscious that his front-runner is a bit of a nightmare manages to convince recently injured school hottie "Paul" (Chris Klein) to stand against her. Though he be thick as two short planks, he is a formidable challenge for "Flick" as most of the school don't appear to be too bright, either... and the fight is on. Her scheming machinations and his attempts to foil her ambitions make for quite a fun 100 minutes. The dialogue can be a bit earthy at times, but don't, whatever you do, look for plot complexities nor a thought-provoking script - except, perhaps, in addressing the odiousness of blind ambition and perhaps, 30 years later - it sends us a gentle reminder that if we all just sleep through our respective democratic processes then we will get people like this really running the place.... Klein is quite good as the nice-but-dim "Paul" too!