The best and brightest high school adventure since the groundbreaking Heathers. This high-school comedy is scathing, smart and seriously funny.

The story of a high school student body presidency up for bid sounds simple and even cliched, but director Payne makes quick work of the stereotypical teen comedy, turning the tables on just about everyone in the picture.

As go-getter Tracy Flick, Reese Witherspoon, makes for an archetypal 'A' student who you just have to hate for her earnestness... but within five minutes we realize Tracy has her own dirty secrets. The same is true for teacher Mr. McAllister (Broderick).

Subplots abound - there's Tracy's scandalous affair with a teacher; Mr. McAllister's extramarital dalliance which results in a very nasty bee sting; a lesbian student's emergence from the closet, and more. Against the odds, Payne manages to juggle each of these sideshows with equal success.

By the film's 3/4-way point, Payne has turned everything upside down then right again, then has apparently torn up the script and taken off in a new direction altogether. Set in Omaha, Nebraska, this tale couldn't be more farcical (think Fargo) or more hilarious.