Election
Published February 24, 2024
Film info
- Title Election
- Director Alexander Payne
- Year 1999
- Run time 1hr 43m
- Genres Romance, Comedy, Drama, Mystery
- Tagline Reading. Writing. Revenge.
A frustrated high school teacher comes to grief when he tries to check the ambitions of an overachieving pupil.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 4:32 | “You can’t interfere with destiny, that’s why it’s destiny.” |
| 11:17 | Three Times a Lady, he’s definitely grooming her. |
| 17:40 | What kind of gadget makes the seat belt move like that? |
| 21:28 | Existential crisis because of a broken leg. |
| 29:37 | “Sometimes when I’m sad, I sit and watch the power station.” |
| 39:12 | The cheers for this guy, just because he’s good at football. |
| 43:52 | Yay for proper football, even if it is basically in the mud. |
| 48:01 | You know it’s more than a tantrum when you end up with a lot of papercuts. |
| 55:05 | “Subversive elements” at high school. |
| 1:06:10 | I like that he just says ‘okay’. |
| 1:09:49 | 480 cupcakes!! |
| 1:22:13 | You have to mostly feel bad for that counter kid, he’s right! |
| 1:24:37 | “Right now, I need to finish my pie and go on home.” That’s a mood. |
| 1:28:33 | Never cross the custodial staff. |
Thoughts
This film was so high up on many of the ‘best of 90s’ lists I’ve been looking at to try and keep our 90s evenings going. I thought I must have been missing out on something but now, having watched it, I guess I’m just missing something. It wasn’t good? It wasn’t funny, except in a couple of rare places. The good thing about it is following a bunch of flawed people, just trying to navigate their way. But it felt drawn out and dull, and the switches of narrator jarring rather than effective.
Rating: 2 / 5