Detailed Instructions: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
See one example below:
Problem: plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Solution: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Problem: matthew broderick and high school comedy .
the two terms have been practically inseparable since ferris buehler took the day off in 1986 .
now it is 13 years later , and broderick has another high school comedy , election , to show the world .
ferris buehler 's day off showed an educational setting that was similar to a pile of marshmallows .
it was light , fluffy , tasty , and sparkling clean .
but election is far different .
this production is a dark , and frighteningly realistic one that does so much more than entertain for the 103 minutes it occupies ; it shocks as well .
jim mcallister ( matthew broderick ) is the type of teacher that makes american high schools proud .
he is a kind , caring , younger man who has built his life around carver high school .
in turn , carver high school has provided a home for him .
jim has won teacher of the year no less than three times in his 12 year span , and is a well respected social studies teacher among the student body .
tracy flick ( reese witherspoon ) is an intelligent , outgoing , and , to quote the film , " super nice " young girl .
she is involved in numerous extracurricular activities , always has her hand up first in class , and is extremely popular among most of the student body .
so , it is a natural progression when she decides to run for school president .
the metzler family is an extremely wealthy one .
the father , dick ( holmes osborne ) , owns a cement company .
the mother , jo ( jeanine jackson ) , is an ideal housewife .
and the two children , paul ( chris klein ) and tammy ( jessica campbell ) , are both students at carver high school .
paul was the quarterback of the football team before he injured himself , and is definitely a candidate for most popular person in school .
tammy is a lesbian who , to say the least , is going through a period of self discovery .
for reasons of revenge , hatred , and sexual envy , jim convinces paul to run against tracy for school president .
he claims that in a democracy you need choices , and having tracy run unopposed creates a dictatorship of sorts .
so paul agrees and the race is on .
but then , in an effort to spite the two candidates , tammy announces that she is running as well .
her campaign is straightforward : people only run to put it on their college applications , then they do nothing .
well , " i do n't even want to go to college , " she says .
in election , there are no " good guys " .
almost everyone has their own agenda .
no matter how deeply hidden , the production digs it up and exploits it for the audience .
tracy is the type of person that you remember from high school .
she is the girl that would be labeled " most likely to achieve anything she wants " in the yearbook , and everyone secretly envied her because of that .
jim is a teacher that takes the trust that students give him as a privilege , and uses it to his own amoral advantage .
everyone , including the principal , a former teacher , all the candidates , and even paul 's girlfriend are two sided characters .
that is much of this film 's beauty , it does n't have the typical good guys that hollywood likes , instead it is a realistic portrayal of the real world , specializing in revealing the type of sexual perversions that people usually keep to themselves .
matthew broderick could n't have been any more perfect for this role .
his character is often similar bill murray 's award winning role in the 1998 film , rushmore .
of the two acting jobs , broderick 's is far superior .
but even he is overshadowed by the young reese witherspoon .
the hatred that she causes the audience to develop towards her , is simply indescribable .
broderick and witherspoon are simply at their best when they are playing off each other in various scenes .
one such moment occurs when she approaches him in his car as he is leaving school one day .
you can see her self pride in her eyes as she presents him a list of signatures , making her an eligible candidate .
and his subtle disgust with her is apparent , although he tries to mask it between the lines and attempts to put on a happy face .
the supporting cast is one with little hollywood experience .
but that is far from apparent as everyone takes control of their part .
however , the real treat is jessica campbell in her confused role as a young homosexual girl .
this is never more apparent than the scene where she delivers her speech announcing her so - called platform for presidency .
she is just marvelous as her hatred towards what she thinks to be an unjust system is expressed .
if ferris buehler made you feel good about american high schools , and gave you an innocent laugh or two , then the movie achieved its goal .
but do n't you dare think that election 's goals are similar .
it is just as real in its portrayal of high school , as its characters are in the real world .
there certainly is no pile of marshmallows here .
Solution:
P