Since Tracy is running unopposed, he decides to throw a little monkey wrench into her plans and convinces popular football star Paul Metzler (Chris Klein, American Pie) to run against her. Paul is a good guy and thinks Tracy is the best, but Mr. M. convinces him it is in the best interest of democracy that a little healthy competition be injected into the process. To further complicate matters, Paul's younger sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell) runs against Paul and Tracy, mainly because Tammy's former girlfriend just became Paul's new girlfriend. Ouch.
As Tracy realizes Mr. M. is behind the threat to her presidency, she ups the ante and sabotages the competition's advertising, while Jim takes matters into his own hands to insure she loses. Meanwhile, even though he was so worried about Tracy wrecking his marriage, he manages to do that all on his own.
Election is a fairly good movie, but an odd one. Reese Witherspoon looks so prim, pure and proper in this film, I just don't expect her to be a teen tart. Some of the things said about her are purely sexual and it threw me off guard. The acting is exceptional on all sides and really, I would expect nothing less from the likes of Witherspoon and Broderick. Chris Klein is also perfect as the kind, lovable and just a little bit stupid Paul.
Election is most definitely dark. It has its comedic moments, but they aren't laugh-out-loud. They are more of the "uncomfortable moment" type of comedy. While the film does showcase Witherspoon's ability to play a driven, Type-A female to be reckoned with, it's not one I would watch over and over again. There are no special features, except for an audio commentary with Director Alexander Payne and, in this day, that is unheard of. If you have this movie on DVD, I can't recommend a jump to Blu-ray; there's just nothing special about this release to warrant another purchase.
