Search - Election on DVD

Kathleen P. from OAKLAND, CA
Reviewed on 6/6/2015...

Reese is hilarious ! Great little dark comedy.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Jacquie P. from ST CHARLES, IL
Reviewed on 9/29/2008...

This is a comedy classic.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

"The weak are always trying to sabatoge the strong."

S.G.R. Black | Denton, Texas | 07/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Film (*****)
When Amazon classifies Alexander Payne's 1999 satire, "Election," as an "essential video," note these guys (or gals) are on to something. Not only is this film essential in its importance to film and the genre of comedy, but it's simply a piece filmmaking at its best.

Reese Witherspoon is hands down fantastic as the irritatingly over-achiever, Tracy Flick, who will stop at nothing in earning her rightful place as class president. Matthew Broderick is brilliant as the content educator but malicious rival to Tracy who will stop at nothing to bring her down. It's a teriffic film about politics against a high school setting. What could easily have been another silly cliched teen comedy is something more with Alexander Payne's witty script and observant direction: a mature, sophisticated, satirical, black comedy that should have caused more of a stir back in 1999. The film was well received by critics and even earned some award nominations including an Oscar for the adaption of Tom Perrotta's novel (of the same name). It definitely among my favorites.

Blu-ray features (**): Sadly,. this film is slighly under par as to what the blu-ray format is capable of. It definitely surpasses the DVD release, but the film show some evident flaws. Scratches and splotches are abundant-not neccessarily grain. You know those annoying black spots that "Fight Club" dubbed as "cigarette burns?" Yeah. They're present too, maybe not as big but it's visible. Then we have the special features. Wait. There are no special feature besides an insightful commentary by Alexander Payne. That's it. For the dollar your spending, "Election" is absolutely worth it. I just wish Paramount would have taken better care of the transfer and possibly even add a few more goodies. Is that too much to ask for?"

We've Got (Too) High Hopes

Robin Orlowski | United States | 01/01/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This film suffers from a plot problem--as in it has little.

The interesting parts were the pettiness of the student body election. And I found the tearing of rival posters 'cute' in a twisted way.

But then we have some totally unecessary side plot about a teacher having an affair with underage students and getting caught with it. Ummm..what does this have to do with students running for school president? It and the teacher's lives uneccessarily detract from the screenplay.

I think it would have been more interesting if the script had just focused on Tracy, even going back to see what campaigns she previously had been in--and their outcome. Why is this contest so important to her?"

More dark than funny

Bradley F. Smith | Miami Beach, FL | 07/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This one more than flirts with the teacher/student sex equation, teen lesbianism and adultery, and the result is way better than you'd expect, maybe because little is left to innuendo through the clever use of fantasy sequences. Quite a bit dirtier than you'd think, given the cast and premise, the sophistication level is pretty high for a Matthew Broderick vehicle. This one is a keeper."