madbaker | Film mini-reviews

The weekend before Election Day, we watched Election. It's a sort-of-black comedy with Matthew Broderick (playing an adult) and Reese Witherspoon as the perky-brainy-yet-annoying-and-terrifyingly-ambitious driven junior in high school. It was worth a rental, even if Witherspoon's character evoked images of a young Hillary Clinton. I don't think that was the intent but it's an unavoidable comparison right now.

Also recently: The Reckoning. Supposedly taking place in the 13th century, it's about a group of traveling actors who end up re-enacting a local murder and realizing that the accused is innocent. Starring Willem Dafoe, it was in the art houses for maybe two weeks. It's definitely a modern style of direction, with lots of MTV quick cuts. I wouldn't exactly call it true to the medieval feel, the way that The Advocate (aka The Hour of the Pig, which I think is a fabulous title) was. But it was okay for a rental.