Finally, a high school movie that gets high school right. Gone are the hyper stylish kids who look in their twenties. In place are somewhat awkward, gauche teenagers finding their way in life. Even the unstoppable lead character, Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), is given to sometimes frumpy clothing and uninspired hairdos.

Welcome to Alexander Payne's vicious satire of the electorial process. An equal opportunity offender to both left and right wingers, Payne's "Citizen Ruth" was an underseen gem that boasted some of the wittiest lines in recent history, a handful of pathetic characters and great acting by the likes of Laura Dern, Mary Kay Place and Swoosie Kurtz. This, his second writing and directing effort, offers a less frenetic, but no less energizing and entertaining roasting of politics and aspirations.

In a drab high school, Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is the reigning favorite teacher. An instructor in Ethics and History, Jim's leading his small town life with the wife and career when the upcoming Student Government Election rolls along. Running uncontested for the position of President is Tracy Flick, student extraordinare. An overachiever to shame all other overachievers, Tracy is a driven, determined individual who wants to win the election at all costs. Leading the student government is not an end in itself to her - it's winning in life that she wants to ultimately achieve. Faced with the prospect of working with her for the entire year, Jim begins to plan to sabotage her chances of winning. It's not simply the case that Jim dislikes Tracy - his hatred for her stems from an incident the previous year, when Jim's best friend colleague was involved in a scandalous relationship with her, resulting in his expulsion from the job and his divorce from his wife. More insidiously, the sexually frustrated Jim harbors the same sick fantasies about Tracy that cause him to want to destroy her since he cannot have her. Recruiting the dim-witted but popular jock Paul (Chris Klein) to run against her, Jim resorts to all kinds of underhanded trickery and evil doing just to prevent Tracy from what she sees as her destiny. Further muddying the waters is Paul's younger sister, Tammy (Jessica Campbell), who enters the fray to spite her brother since her blossoming lesbian love affair was thwarted when her girlfriend decided sex with her brother was more fun. The three ring circus soon escalates into a farce where the ugliest aspects of every character bar one - the kindly Paul who's too stupid to stoop to stealth and sleazy actions - come into full display.

The flimsy premise holds up remarkably well under Payne's assured, smooth direction. The mounting implausibilities of the plot (Would someone like Tracy be caught in a forbidden teacher-student relationship in the first place? Would a jock like Paul really win the unanimous adoration of the entire student body? Can a too-cool-for-high-school character like Tammy even exist?) get swept away as the audience becomes caught up in the artificial world that Payne skilfully constructs in order to mount his greater issues upon. The parallels between a school election and the entire electoral system of various national governments takes on a sinister synergy as Payne relentlessly serves up every side for all its warts and worthiness. This is vicious satire at its best, and the highly literate script sparkles with many zingers.

Leading the cast ably, Matthew Broderick fearlessly plays a pathetic loser who's nice enough to be well liked, but despicable enough to do wrong without remorse. Always viewing himself as wronged and victmized, Broderick's Jim is a savagely funny and unlovable character that audiences will find hard to swallow, but which works wonderfully in the context of the script. Similarly saddled with an unsympathetic character, Reese Witherspoon acquits herself much better in the popularity department. The words "turbo dynamo" come to mind when one attempts to describe her performance. Perky, poised and pathologically pushy, Tracy is alternately hateful and sympathetic, and Witherspoon's performance toes the line beautifully. Both newcomers, Chris Klein and Jessica Campbell, also turn in winning pieces of work, with Klein affecting early Keanu (in the best possible sense), and Campbell perfectly blending teenage angst and awareness.

"Election" may not become a huge box office hit, and maybe it shouldn't be - the thought of a bunch of copycat knockoffs is too painful to bear. A film as droll and demented as this is deserves to be savored for its unique and considerable charms.

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