My first foray to Payne’s cinematic world was The Descendants, which I could have done without — however touching. Then came Nebraska, which provided a visual flatness that mimicked the flat disappointment of life with such poise and simplicity — it had to be genius. Both of these remain captivating and fine examples of a well-scripted, superbly shot family dramas.
But this, this is politics. I was quite intrigued, having been introduced to Payne through a specific genre, to see what he might do within the confines of the brutal years spent in shallow self-loathing at {insert high school name here}.
And I was pleasantly surprised. The plot is full of unpredictable twists and follows a non-linear storyline leading the viewer down a winding path of desire, ruthless ambition, and revenge. Each major character gets a voiceover, through a camera POV change, and a chance to explain their morals and code of ethics, while Jim McAllister (Broderick) is the overall narrator lamenting at his own fall from moral and ethical superiority. The emphasis on morals as a system of beliefs and ethics as a code of principles is nuanced understanding of human nature and the difference between the standards to which we hold ourselves and the standards to which we hold others.
When Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) shows veritable distain for Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) because of her affair, according to his own code of ethics — however, when it comes to Jim’s own affair, that code is irrelevant. The code of ethics represented at the school is very different than outsider Tammy Metzler’s code of ethics and they clash veritably.
Payne’s use of the pause and play effect to emphasize the voiceovers is playful and breaks up the strictly suburban normalcy that oozes from the characters at the start of the film. The viewer is aware of the medium and the non-linear structure of the film, in that moment, making the audience an objective viewer, judging the character’s perfect exteriors and the suppressed desires, angers and fears that dwell on the interiors, from on high. One laughs at the McAllister’s inability to see the consequences of his affair, blind sighted by boredom and desire. The audience chuckles at Tracy’s overachieving and clearly only-surface-deep niceties. But it’s also a slight reminder, a push towards remembering that we are human. Mistakes happen, people get hurt and ethical and moral obligations are forgotten.
