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This film starts out
so innocently. You sit there for the first few minutes of the film
thinking you are going to see another innocuous high school film with
some pleasing social message or other, until Mark Harelik drops the
line out of the blue: "Her pussy gets sooo wet." That's where the
pleasantries stop and the roller coaster of mean spirited, sarcastic,
social satire begins -- and I love it. In director Payne's world nobody
is who they are on the surface, nobody can remain innocent in a world
filled with power, except those who don't seek it. The casting of
Matthew Broderick as a loser teacher is an obviously self-conscious
one, as everyone alive in the 80's still associates him with the anti-establishment
Ferris Bueler. Broderick plays the part perfectly, as you just want
to hide your head in shame for him every time he is on screen. Also
cast perfectly is Reese Witherspoon as Broderick's overachieving nemesis,
Tracy Flick. You know exactly what is going through her mind every
time she bugs her eyes, flares her nostrils and stomps her prissy
little feet. Situations in the movie are not treated with kid gloves
and I was shocked to see mothers and fathers sitting there with their
kids watching this movie. I was embarrassed for the parents as they
discovered, as did I, that this was a raw film, filled with despicable
characters and scenes you just wish you had written because they are
just that perfect. The director also does a great job blending his
somewhat out-there style seamlessly between scenes. This is just one
of those movies I can't wait to see again. Up there with Rushmore
as one of the year's best so far. [movie theater]
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