It’s been nearly thirteen years since the debut of Alexander Payne‘s Election, and it’s doubtful, frankly, that Reese Witherspoon will luck into a role as good as Tracy Flick again. It enabled her to give her very best performance. Certainly her most memorable, in part because she wasn’t “acting” — Tracy Flick is inside Witherspoon as surely as Tom Dunson and Ethan Edwards were inside John Wayne.

Has Witherspoon ever played a Tracy-ish role since? Of course not. Will she ever? Not likely. Will she ever make anything of any value again, ever? What kind of management puts a feisty adult actress in projects like This Is War and Water for Elephants? One thing Witherspoon will never sell is foxy-sexy; nor softly romantic and vulnerable. She’s too steely and practical. Tracy Flick was lightning in a bottle, and that stuff doesn’t grow on trees.