matthew broderick and high school comedy . the two terms have been practically inseparable since ferris buehler took the day off in 1986 . now it is 13 years later , and broderick has another high school comedy , election , to show the world . ferris buehler's day off showed an educational setting that was similar to a pile of marshmallows . it was light , fluffy , tasty , and sparkling clean . but election is far different . this production is a dark , and frighteningly realistic one that does so much more than entertain for the 103 minutes it occupies ; it shocks as well . jim mcallister ( matthew broderick ) is the type of teacher that makes american high schools proud . he is a kind , caring , younger man who has built his life around carver high school . in turn , carver high school has provided a home for him . jim has won teacher of the year no less than three times in his 12 year span , and is a well respected social studies teacher among the student body . tracy flick ( reese witherspoon ) is an intelligent , outgoing , and , to quote the film , " super nice " young girl . she is involved in numerous extracurricular activities , always has her hand up first in class , and is extremely popular among most of the student body . so , it is a natural progression when she decides to run for school president . the metzler family is an extremely wealthy one . the father , dick ( holmes osborne ) , owns a cement company . the mother , jo ( jeanine jackson ) , is an ideal housewife . and the two children , paul ( chris klein ) and tammy ( jessica campbell ) , are both students at carver high school . paul was the quarterback of the football team before he injured himself , and is definitely a candidate for most popular person in school . tammy is a lesbian who , to say the least , is going through a period of self discovery . for reasons of revenge , hatred , and sexual envy , jim convinces paul to run against tracy for school president . he claims that in a democracy you need choices , and having tracy run unopposed creates a dictatorship of sorts . so paul agrees and the race is on . but then , in an effort to spite the two candidates , tammy announces that she is running as well . her campaign is straightforward : people only run to put it on their college applications , then they do nothing . well , " i don't even want to go to college , " she says . in election , there are no " good guys " . almost everyone has their own agenda . no matter how deeply hidden , the production digs it up and exploits it for the audience . tracy is the type of person that you remember from high school . she is the girl that would be labeled " most likely to achieve anything she wants " in the yearbook , and everyone secretly envied her because of that . jim is a teacher that takes the trust that students give him as a privilege , and uses it to his own amoral advantage . everyone , including the principal , a former teacher , all the candidates , and even paul's girlfriend are two sided characters . that is much of this film's beauty , it doesn't have the typical good guys that hollywood likes , instead it is a realistic portrayal of the real world , specializing in revealing the type of sexual perversions that people usually keep to themselves . matthew broderick couldn't have been any more perfect for this role . his character is often similar bill murray's award winning role in the 1998 film , rushmore . of the two acting jobs , broderick's is far superior . but even he is overshadowed by the young reese witherspoon . the hatred that she causes the audience to develop towards her , is simply indescribable . broderick and witherspoon are simply at their best when they are playing off each other in various scenes . one such moment occurs when she approaches him in his car as he is leaving school one day . you can see her self pride in her eyes as she presents him a list of signatures , making her an eligible candidate . and his subtle disgust with her is apparent , although he tries to mask it between the lines and attempts to put on a happy face . the supporting cast is one with little hollywood experience . but that is far from apparent as everyone takes control of their part . however , the real treat is jessica campbell in her confused role as a young homosexual girl . this is never more apparent than the scene where she delivers her speech announcing her so-called platform for presidency . she is just marvelous as her hatred towards what she thinks to be an unjust system is expressed . if ferris buehler made you feel good about american high schools , and gave you an innocent laugh or two , then the movie achieved its goal . but don't you dare think that election's goals are similar . it is just as real in its portrayal of high school , as its characters are in the real world . there certainly is no pile of marshmallows here .
