In many ways, Robert Mandel’s (F/X, The Substitute) School Ties is a timeless movie. Released in 1992, this movie, set around a prep school in the 1950s, is just as entertaining and essential 20 years after it was release date as it would have been if it had been, had it been released 20 years before. It revolves around a school’s honor code which has been, is, and always will be a topic that strikes at our inner core. We all view an honor code differently. We always have and will always continue to. For some of us, it’s a governing body that is more important than any criminal law. For others, it is something we sweep under the rug and forget about as quickly as we are informed about it. For most of us, it is something in between and can cause our thoughts to vary about it, to some degree, depending on time, place, and circumstance.

School Ties also stars four, at the time unknown, future box office heavy weights. Leading the way was Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, With Honors), who I wish would have realized sooner than later that drama is his best genre and not a comedy. Fraser, who had knockout performances in The Quiet American and Crash probably gave the best performance of his career in this debut movie, for the most part. Fraser stars as David Green, a Jewish teenager from a blue-collar town in Pennsylvania who is offered a one-year scholarship to a prestigious New England academy to play quarterback. David knows this will pave his way to an Ivy League school where he will have the opportunity he might be afforded otherwise. However, the school administration tells him not to reveal his religion to his classmates, believing that his peers will not be tolerant of his differences.

On the surface, this seems like a football movie. But it is very much not. The football scenes are pretty cheesy, and the acting during these games is even worse. This movie is about doing the right thing even when the right thing seems like the hardest thing in the world to do. It starts with David’s struggle to conceal his faith. Saying he will stay silent proves to be difficult for him as he becomes increasingly popular with each successful pass or touchdown run on the field. This movie has a protagonist in David and an antagonist in Charlie (Matt Damon – Good Will Hunting, Elysium). Hollywood’s #1 good guy proved early in his career that he could play a villain as well as anyone. Charlie was poised to be the school’s quarterback before David’s arrival. Instead, he is forced to play a fullback role for his new roommate. Charlie, who comes from a line of former quarterbacks to play for the school, feels the pressure of being squeezed out by David’s ability to do just about everything on and off the field. He’s extremely jealous of his more intelligent, athletic, and likable teammate. Whereas Charlie was once the focal point of his school, his friends, and even his girlfriend, that honor is slowly but surely going to David.

In addition to their duties on the football field, David, Charlie, and their classmates feel the pressure of the advanced curriculum at the school. The school’s honor code is valued above everything else on paper. But this is something that is put to the test when the demands become so great, and the risks of getting good seem so low because the professors believe that the honor code is enough of a governing body that can allow them to read the newspaper during a big, cumulative exam. This school’s honor code also requires students who witness violations to report them. Friends must write friends, which proves difficult for some characters, such as David, Charlie, Chris (Chris O’Donnell – Scent of a Woman, Vertical Limit), and Chesty (Ben Affleck – Argo, The Town).

Plot 10/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 10/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
90%

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