Payne. Lists like these are often unkind to comedies and comedic filmmakers but Alexander Payne’s resume and talents as an auteur cannot be ignored any further. Like so many others he burst onto he scene in the artistically fertile American 1990’s independent cinema movement and fully arrived with his sophomore effort, 1999’s Election. He may not have ever matched the artistic highs of Election— but Sideways, Nebraska and About Schmidt aren’t far off—they share many qualities of a true author at work (more below in style/traits). Six archiveable films and counting (2017’s Downsizing didn’t help) bearing that bearing Payne’s brand is nothing to sneeze at – nor is 1 top 500 film of all-time (Election) and 3 top 100 films of their respective decade (in three consecutive decades): Election, Sideways, Nebraska.
Best film: Election. There’s much to praise here in Payne’s artistic breakthrough film (Citizen Ruth isn’t too much more than a promising little debut) but with 20+ years of distance behind us now since 1999 (a banner year) and Election I find it harder and harder to talk about the history of the freeze frame from Hitchcock’s Champagne to It’s a Wonderful Life, to Truffaut to Butch Cassidy to Goodfellas without mentioning Election—brilliant work here.
total archiveable films: 6
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 1 (Election)
top 100 films of the decade: 3 (Election, Sideways, Nebraska)
most overrated: At the time in 2011 when it was showing up on everyone’s top 10 of the year I thought The Descendants was overrated but it now sits at #20 for 2011 on the TSPDT consensus 21st century list and that’s ok with me. Sideways is, I think, #4 for 2004 (I’m a slot or two lower) and Payne’s #1 film overall (and only film in the top 1000) on TSPDT so I guess it is a little overrated but it’s a great film- I’m splitting hairs here.
most underrated: Election. I hate to have it here again but I have it in the top 500 of all-time and TSPDT has it way down at #1256 still.
gem I want to spotlight : Nebraska. Yes, I guess it’s cliché to call an auteur’s only black and white film his most beautiful but I don’t have any other choice, Nebraska doesn’t have the bold aesthetics of Election but it is his most painterly work.
stylistic innovations/traits:
- I mention it above but the history of the use of freeze frame in cinema has to include notes on Election– brilliant use
- often uses voice-over
- Comedy/drama blends—certainly the influence of Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder and Hal Ashby can be felt—real people, under extreme stress, acting, at times, buffoonishly
- Fly/over country- Most of his work (About Schmidt, Election, Ruth, Nebraska) set in or featuring characters from Omaha, Nebraska
top 10
- Election
- Nebraska
- Sideways
- About Schmidt
- The Descendants
By year and grades
| 1996- Citizen Ruth | R |
| 1999- Election | MS |
| 2002- About Schmidt | HR |
| 2004- Sideways | MS |
| 2011- The Descendants | R |
| 2013- Nebraska | MS |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
My ranking of Payne`s films that I`ve seen:
1. Election HR/MS
2. Nebraska HR
3. Sideways HR
4. About Schmidt HR
5. The Holdovers R
10 Best Performances
1. Giamatti- The Holdovers 5
2. Witherspoon- Election 5
3. Giamatti- Sideways 5
4. Dern- Nebraska 5
5. Nicholson- About Schmidt 5
6. Sessa- The Holdovers 4.5
7. Haden Church- Sideways 4.5
8. Squibb- Nebraska 4.5
9. Randolph- The Holdovers 4.5
10. Madsen- Sideways 4
I hadn’t seen any Payne films more recent than Election, but I was intrigued by The Holdovers since it was getting so many raves among both critics and my more cinema-literate friends. It’s definitely pretty safe and has a very restrained style beyond a few one-off feeling moments, but it’s a solid film that feels both like a crowd-pleaser and something very personal (with generally strong acting to boot). Doesn’t touch the daring creativity of something like Election for me, but I in no way regret going.
Payne will probably be the biggest looser of this list if a new update arrives regardless of the Holdovers. Almost all of his films got downgraded. Sideways from MS to R/HR, Nebraska from MS to HR, Election from MS to HR/MS and About Schmidt from HR to R/HR
Any particular reason for this revision?
@Drake-You haven’t ranked Citizen Ruth in his top 10.
@Zane- thank you for your help fixing this here
I just watched Election. There were things I liked and things I didn’t.
I liked the actors. I thought there was some creative shots and cinematography. I thought the kid paul and reese witherspoon were especially good, and that Broderick was good as well (though not as good as in ferris)
I did not like some of the more overt altmanism. I felt it was trying to hard to be like an altman film but without half his insight or originality. I like that the ambition of the tracy character can be seen today across political divides. It is also a strong cautionary tale against infidelity and like la strada or rocco and his brothers it shows us the ruin of a man’s life. At first I wanted to see her get literal retribution for what she did (tearing down the posters) but instead it was more emotional and subtle. The Broderick character I wanted to see him completely get over the tracy incident and live his new life like he wanted. Then there were scenes that showed he still had resentment and anger. I think it was smart and honest for them to go that way. What I really liked the most however was the kid paul mentzer. I thought he was closer to john carroll lynch in fargo (a performance so good i use it as a standard). He learned to love life as he had it and the most revealing were the prayer scenes where his sister prays against tracy and tracy against him, while he prays for GOD’S will be done. Thank you for recommending the movie. If it wasn’t rated so high I might not have considered it Drake.