Reese Witherspoon

In Election (1999), Reese Witherspoon lets Tracy Flick be exhausting. Her determination keeps pressing on, and there is no softening of the performance to make us feel protective. We can understand why Matthew Broderick’s Jim McAllister dislikes her, but Witherspoon gives us no reason to accept his judgement as fair. This is where her comic force is most useful: she can irritate us without letting the film dismiss her. We laughed, then felt uneasy, because Jim’s reasonable manner had made his resentment seem more respectable than Tracy’s ambition.

After Election, she faced typecasting as the driven, difficult woman. Legally Blonde (2001), with her as Elle Woods, established her as a romantic-comedy lead. Walk the Line (2005), in which she plays June Carter, made room for dramatic intensity alongside the lighter touch. These are useful counterweights to the idea that she only plays one sort of determined woman.

From around 2012, producing gave her another way to find substantial roles for women, often through book adaptations. Her collaborators include producer Bruna Papandrea on Pacific Standard projects. She both starred in and produced Wild (2014), playing Cheryl Strayed, and took an acting and producing role in the female ensemble of Big Little Lies (2017).

Alexander Payne’s direction in Election can labour a joke, and our enthusiasm for Witherspoon does not excuse every nudge. But he gives her and Broderick space to hold opposing positions without declaring the adult the sensible one. Witherspoon never settles for making Tracy merely a nuisance, nor does she offer a reassuring glimpse of someone sweeter to earn our approval. We want more parts that trust her to risk that dislike. Start with Election, particularly if cheerful competence is all that comes to mind when her name appears.