#389: Election (1999)

Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Chris Klein & Jessica Campbell



How can a Nebraska high school election make the front page of national newspapers? Do anything you can to stop the overzealous, Straight-A student. Start with getting the popular quarterback to run against her. Does that not do the trick? Then throw in the quarterback’s lesbian sister who plans to overthrow the student board.

This is one of my favorite comedies of all time. It is the movie that first brought Reese Witherspoon critical acclaim, nominating her for a Golden Globe. It is also the first film for Chris Klein, who went on to teen comedy fame with the American Pie films. And of course, Matthew Broderick always chooses some class films. His character goes through hell in this film, and it's easy to say he deserves it, though he maintains his charisma nerdy charisma throughout. It's also interesting to see him play a high school teacher for the first time, a turn-around from his most famous role as Ferris Bueller.

What makes the film so smart is how Mr. Payne demonstrates both the thoughts and the actions of the characters separately. On the outside, George Washington Carver High School is the picture-perfect school, with all teachers being extreme motivators and all students fitting perfectly into their own cliques. Everyone has a smile on their face, and they are all working for the future. At the same time, we see the school's most awarded teacher, Mr. McAllister, setting himself to crush the top student, Tracy Flick, while Tracy has no problems fighting back and threatening to destroy McAllister's personal life.

And you can never go wrong with the soundtrack from Navajo Joe.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• In the text of a newspaper article in the film: "If you've paused the film in order to read this entire article, your time would be better spent renting Citizen Ruth (1996) from your local video store. Do you know how hard it is to write these fake few stories for newspaper movie props? I've got better things to do."
• When Tracy rips up the posters of Paul in the school hallway, the theme form Navajo Joe (1966) (which was also used at the end of Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)) plays in the background.
• Since the movie was shot in a real High School (Papillion La Vista High School, Omaha, Nebraska), adjacent classrooms had real class going on while some scenes for the movie were being done. In the soundtrack, some background noises come from real teachers and students. The director decided to leave that in as to give the movie a more realistic sound.
• Reese Witherspoon's portrayal of Tracy Flick was voted as the 45th Greatest Movie Performances of All Time by Premiere Magazine.
• Ranked at #9 on Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies (2006)

#412: Heathers (1988)

Director: Michael Lehmann

Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk & Kim Walker

Heather, Heather, Veronica and Heather are the girls at Westerburg High that all the guys want to be with and all the girls want to be. Except, one of them doesn't want to be a part of their clique anymore. When Veronica meets J.D., a dangerous and mysterious bad-ass lurking in the corner of the cafeteria, he convinces her to kill the lead Heather and make it look like a suicide. Afterwards, the murders posed as suicides continue as the social hierarchy of the school adapts to the changes being made.

This... was weird. There were a few hysterical lines in the script, which I'll give a few examples of later, but aside from that, the overall atmosphere in the film is kind of disturbing. Maybe I'm not well-adjusted to watching dark comedies, but there are a few moments in the film when I'm genuinely freaked out.

I also didn't think much of any of the acting. Particularly of Christian Slater, who seemed to be nearly mimicking Jack Nicholson (who he credits as his 'inspiration' for the role). I said this to my sister while watching, and I'll say it again: Christian Slater is one of the strangest teen icons to grace the silver screen.

The appeal for this film is its uniqueness. Filmmakers are afraid to make dark comedies with such disturbing material if they're aimed at younger audiences. Lehmann not only mocks high school drama, but he mocks high school suicides and bomb threats.

I'll just conclude by stating bluntly, in case you haven't figured it out, I wasn't enthralled. But before I go, some examples of fine script-writing from the film.

Veronica Sawyer: All we want is to be treated like human beings, not to be experimented on like guinea pigs or patronized like bunny rabbits.
Veronica's Dad: I don't patronize bunny rabbits.

Officer Milner: My God, suicide. Why?
Officer McCord: [holds up bottle of mineral water found next to one of the bodies] Does *this* answer your question?
Officer Milner: [appalled] Oh man! They were fags?

J.D.: [after killing Heather] What are we gonna tell the cops? "Fuck it if she can't take a joke, Sarge".
Veronica Sawyer: The cops? This is my life. Oh, my God. I'll have to send my S.A.T. scores to San Quentin instead of Stanford.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB)

• At the beginning of the film Heather Chandler asks Heather Duke "did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?" The actress who played Heather Chandler, Kim Walker later died of a brain tumor.
• Mid-1990's-era ska/punk band Edna's Goldfish named their song "Veronica Sawyer" after the main character in Heathers. The song's theme of alienation among suburban teenagers reflects the themes of the movie. Reel Big Fish covered the song on their 2009 album "Fame, Fortune and Fornication."
• Two stars of the movie died at an early age: Jeremy Applegate (Peter Dawson, whose character prays he will never commit suicide) committed suicide with a shotgun on March 23, 2000, and Kim Walker (Heather Chandler, who had the line "Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?") died of a brain tumor on March 6, 2001.
• SPOILER: J.D. tricks Veronica into killing the jocks by claiming to use "ich luge" bullets, which he claims only pierce the skin. "Ich lüge" is German for "I'm lying".

#493: In the Company of Men (1997)

Director: Neil LaBute

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy & Stacy Edwards

When two misogynistic businessmen decide to play a game, a sad but comedic drama ensues. The woman-hating Chad and the bumbling Howard decide to both date the same woman and break up with her when they both move out of town for business. Their victim: a deaf secretary at their office.

There are no tricks to this film. No involved camerawork, no special effects. No musical score. It's all script and some damn good acting. Eckhart is the perfect prick, possibly the most hate-able character I have ever come across. Malloy is the all-too-innocent pushover. Edwards plays a convincing deaf woman who is so easily the target of jokes, despite her remarkably kind soul.

I had a hard time adjusting to the film, mainly because of the style of speech. It's a very realistic style in which the actors aren't afraid to speak quietly, making the audience really lean in to hear them. Once I became accustomed to it, though, this film really drew me in. It's just too easy to have strong emotion towards these three characters.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Stacy Edwards (Christine) originally could not star because she was getting married at the time the movie was scheduled to start shooting. The producers pushed back the schedule to accommodate her.
• According to writer-director Neil LaBute, his script began with the line "Let's hurt somebody" and developed from there.
• Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".

This is Richie L, and I endorse this film.