![]() ![]() Flick fans and newcomers alike will love this compulsively readable novel chronicling the second act of one of the most memorable characters of our time. In classic Perrotta style, TRACY FLICK CAN'T WIN is a sharp, darkly comic page-turner, and a pitch-perfect reflection on our current moment. Is she really a shoo-in for the Principal job? Is the Superintendent plotting against her? Why is the School Board President’s wife trying so hard to be her friend? And why can’t she ever get what she deserves? Her male colleagues’ determination to honor Vito Falcone - a star quarterback of dubious character who had a brief, undistinguished career in the NFL - triggers bad memories for Tracy, and leads her to troubling reflections about the trajectory of her own life and the forces that have left her feeling thwarted and disappointed, unable to fulfill her true potential.Īs she broods on the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present. And whether you met her through the movie starring Reese Witherspoon or the book. She was going to be president of the United States. But nothing ever comes easily to Tracy Flick, no matter how diligent or qualified she happens to be.Īmong her many other responsibilities, Tracy is enlisted to serve on the Selection Committee for the brand-new Green Meadow High School Hall of Fame. SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST: Tracy Flick had big plans in high school. Still ambitious but feeling a little stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when the longtime principal, Jack Weede, abruptly announces his retirement, creating a rare opportunity for Tracy to ascend to the top job.Įnergized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty and School Board while also managing her personal life - a 10-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend and a burgeoning meditation practice. Post-Election, Tracy Flick became dismissive shorthand for so many things we should want in society like drive and ambition but not-so-secretly resent.We, as the New York Times’ AO Scott just argued, need more people like her, though. Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. “The idea was you could show the mechanisms in student elections that are writ large in the national scene.Tracy Flick is back, and once again the iconic protagonist of Tom Perrotta’s ELECTION - and Reese Witherspoon’s character from the classic movie adaptation - is determined to take high school politics by storm. “By using the high school environment, the film was able to expose our democratic process in its most fundamental, self-interested way,” says producer Ron Yerxa. Alexander Payne’s first studio movie - which he says Barack Obama twice has told him is “his favorite political film he also likes The Candidate” - also was a favorite with THR: “A sharp, funny, bracingly on-the-money high school satire.” (As for box office, the MTV/Paramount film was a bit too sophisticated for the youth market: The $8 million production brought in $15 million domestically.)īut Payne’s tale of ruthlessly overachieving high school princess Tracy Flick ( Reese Witherspoon, then 23), who wants to be student body president but runs up against a social studies teacher (Matthew Broderick, then 37) determined to derail her campaign, has become a video cult favorite, earning a 92 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While the recent presidential election had aspects that were absurdly juvenile, 1999’s Election was in many ways more adult in its focus on political absurdities - but those practiced in high school. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |