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Written and directed by Alexander Payne

Starring
- Mathew Broderick as Jim McAllister
- Reese Witherspoon as Tracey Flick
- Chris Klein as Paul Metzler
- Jessica Campbell as Tammy Metzler

Erich Sez. . .

Election damn near predicted the future.  A success driven busybody runs for (class) president and seems to have it locked up.  Just for the sake of competition, a dimwitted jock type who is the first son of a wealthy family runs against her.  Then a third candidate, something of a misfit, enters the election and points out that the whole thing is a sham.  The powers that be get together and agree that the third candidate ought to be excluded from the election.  The contest between the two real candidates is a squeaker, exacerbated by the fact that many of the voters throw their votes away in casting their ballots for the troublemaker.  The office in charge of overseeing the election puts its finger on the scale and swings the election towards the dope. 

    The film only differs from the election of 2000 in that the scale tipping is caught and the election winds up going to the over-achiever. 

    Why do stories like this sometimes seem to predict the future?  Partially through coincidence, of course.  Also, partially through the fact that they ring true.  Everything makes sense in Election: all of the characters; the way the elections work; the realities of politics; the behavior of the voters.  When you think about it, its not all that surprising that fictions that have a great understanding of people and society sometimes seem to predict the future. 

     Unlike some films of similar predictive power, like Wag the Dog, or All the President's Men, Election is great fun to watch.  It is one of the first discs I bought when I got my DVD player and Ive seen it perhaps eight times since then, never tiring of it.  We have all known Tracey Flicks and Jim McAllisters and are all under the leadership of Pauls counterpart, yet no characters quite like these had ever made it to the screen.  Because of the great characters that the jokes work and keep working.  The bee sting on Jims eye and his weeniemobile make us laugh not once, but every time we see them because the bee sting is on Jims eye and that is Jims car.  This is a combination of brilliant acting , brilliant writing and directing that allows both to flourish

Ruthless Ratings:

• Overall: 8.5
• Direction: 7
• Acting: 9
• Story: 9
• DVD Extras: 7
• Re-watchability: 9.5