From a Tom Perrotta novel, the 1999 movie Election is a smartass piece of goods with some thoroughly cheap—and, yes, progressive—stuff concerning a teenage lesbian (Jessica Campbell). (It’s schematic too.)

What’s acceptable is that the film is about a man (Matthew Broderick) who fails as a moral representative to a younger generation. But it is also about those of the younger generation who will themselves fail as moral representatives when they get older, for corruption is seeping in. But there isn’t much on the plus side of Election, for all the effective acting. I don’t like it. Director Alexander Payne gave us more salutary productions in later years.