Watch The Original Lame Ending To Election

1999's Election is probably Reese Witherspoon's very best role. As laser-eyed grade-grubber Tracy Flick who had her sights set on becoming the school body president, Witherspoon was equal parts venomous and hilarious--nothing would stop Flick's bloodthirsty rise to the top. And its bleakly funny ending, though a bit of a bummer, rang true to the mordant black humor that runs through the rest of Election. But now the original ending (that's evidently true to the source novel) has surfaced and we see that the audience narrowly missed a coda that's all hugs and accepted apologies and other bits of bland porridge. Check it out below! [Vulture]



Comments

  • Mike the Movie Tyke says:

    Interesting. At first it reminded me of the ending of Matchstick Men but it kept plodding along to tie up the loose ends. I don't totally recall the ending they went with but it was definitely more fitting than this.

  • kelly says:

    I've seen Election with this original ending in a theater! I lived in the Los Angeles area in the late 90's and once in a while I was able to go to test screenings, so that must have been where I'd seen it, although I don't remember filling out any test questionaires. I did and still do like the movie quite a bit and I did have that strange moment when I caught the film again on DVD or cable and realized that the ending was different. I think they both work, but I am curious to know: was this change the filmmaker's decision or the studio's?

  • I wonder if this ending was really so bad. Isnt a character journey often about change and learning? Maybe its just that we want to hate the female character so much? There arent many US commercial films that have a bad ending that people are happy to come out of and recommend. its about financial success isnt it?

  • The Pope says:

    In this ending, Mr. McAllister has no backbone whatsoever. Tracy is just pissing on him all the way... until she says she's not ready for college. Which is completely ridiculous. Happy ending? No. Just two morons who bear no resemblance to how they behaved before. The ending we all know from the '99 theatrical release is far more honest.