The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Election
Comedy · Drama · 1999
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-arching student politician.
Movie details
Election
“Reading. Writing. Revenge.”
1999 Comedy · Drama 1h 43m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.9 / 10
Community rating
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-arching student politician.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Election?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Barney's Version
Comedy · 2010
The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.
World's Greatest Dad
Comedy · 2009
In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of fame, fortune and popularity, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.
A Serious Man
Comedy · 2009
It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.
Snack Shack
Comedy · 2024
Inseparable best friends AJ and Moose decide to run the local pool's snack shack after their plan to sell home-brewed beer goes down the drain. Things take a turn when they meet Brooke, an effortlessly cool lifeguard who puts their big plans, and friendship, at risk.
Rushmore
Comedy · 1998
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.
True Colors
Drama · 1991
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
Cheaters
Drama · 2000
In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High conspires with the school's academic decathlon team to cheat on an academic competition.
Brave the Dark
Drama · 2025
When Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets slowly tearing Nate apart. What began as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything—even himself.
Blame
Drama · 2018
A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".
The Dirties
Comedy · 2013
The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Alexander Payne
Written by
Alexander Payne · Jim Taylor
Matthew Broderick
Jim McAllister
Reese Witherspoon
Tracy Enid Flick
Chris Klein
Paul Metzler
Jessica Campbell
Tammy Metzler
Mark Harelik
Dave Novotny
Phil Reeves
Walt Hendricks
Molly Hagan
Diane McAllister
Court is in session
Put Election on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.