By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Caroline Suh
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 83
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104783/
Bruce says: “FRONTRUNNERS is slightly more interesting than watching paint dry, a bit like reading about someone eating sushi while typing their latest entry on Facebook, a more up-to-date version for wasting time. This film follows four couples who are the candidates for President/Vice President of the Student Union at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School located across the West Side Highway from the site of the World Trade Center. Stuyvesant is one of the premier highs schools in New York City and claims to house students who are in the top 3% of students in the city.
“The early election favorites are Mike and Marta. Mike is well connected with the Student Union and was Sophomore Class President. Hannah and Lauren are long shots, Hannah notorious for her acting in PALINDROMES and an episode of ‘Law and Order.’ George is nerdy and marketing-savvy as well as having been Freshman Class President; his VP is Vanessa. They, too, are contenders. Alex, a basketball player who is in the race just for fun, and running mate Zakia are also long shots. Everyone agrees that Mike and George are likely to run one, two.
“Much about this school election is similar to national elections. There is great discussion about having the right ethnic mix for a ticket. There is the never ending argument over whether it is personality or issues that get votes. And half of the school population turns into pundits offering truly boring opinions. Mr. Polazzo, the Coordinator of Student Affairs, frequently tells the viewer about the rules and the strengths or weaknesses of the candidates. He is a sweet man but not much more interesting than the students.
“Over half of the film is devoted to the primary elections, the purpose of which is to whittle the field down to two candidates. We get to follow some of the candidates home and we certainly hear plenty from each of them. It would ruin the film to say who the final candidates are, but the obvious does not happen because both overconfidence and detailed planning affect the outcome. The two big items before the election are the debate between the presidential candidates and the endorsement of one candidate by the school paper. At the debate one of the candidates asks the other, ‘What is the main reason you might lose?’ which is reminiscent of Michael Dukakis being asked what punishment he would feel just were Kitty Dukakis attacked and raped. The spirit of the question was in poor taste the first time around and does not need a reprise. “To be fair, high school kids may love this film. I did not. 1.5 cats”