Election - In my opinion, Alexander Payne has been one of the most consistent directors of recent years so I was keen to check this out as one his earlier offerings. For me, this seems to lack the bitter-sweetness and maturity of the likes of Nebraska or About Schmidt but it does have the same trademark cynical world-view. Reese Witherspoon puts in a truly great performance as the ambitious over-achiever so desperate to be elected school president and Matthew Broderick is also very good as the school-teacher who makes it his mission to stop her. There are lots of twists and turns and nuanced characters throughout, all of which make this a very enjoyable watch. Intelligent and fast-moving, I would have no hesitation in recommending this, especially if you can find it in Poundland as I did!
Do the Right Thing - I expected a lot more from this. I found it to be a slightly clumsy handling of a controversial subject and the direction seemed really amateurish. Some of the acting is also toe-curlingly bad. Maybe the years haven't been kind or perhaps I need to give this another spin but it left me cold.
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