School Ties (1992)

Strictly average movie

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

People are voting emotionally.

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Main parts of the movie are not believable. If Matt Damon wasn't angry at Brendan Fraser for taking his girlfriend, would he tell classmates that David was Jewish? David helped them win. So, it's not clear at all. The headmaster, the coach, a few alumni knew that David was Jewish. They decided to enroll David. If kids don't like it, too bad. My favorite part is when David puts Magen David back on after kids find out he is Jewish. It's a great lesson. Don't try to blend in. Whenever Jews try to blend in, eventually they suffer. Obviously, it's hard for a high school senior to understand. Especially, when there are so many incentives to do so.

David Green (Brendan Fraser) is a star quarterback from working class Scranton, Pennsylvania in the 50's. He's Jewish and gets into fights for that. He gets a scholarship to an exclusive prep school for the senior year aiming to get into Harvard. His coach suggests keeping his Jewish heritage a secret. He is befriended by nice roommate Chris Reece (Chris O'Donnell), Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon) who wants to be the quarterback, Jack Connors (Cole Hauser) and others. After winning a big game, he falls for Sally Wheeler (Amy Locane) whom Dillon also likes. Dillon is embarrassed on the field. He discovers Green's Jewish heritage and unleashes anti-semantic feelings among the students.Something bugged me throughout this movie. They're supposed to be high school seniors but everybody looks like they're twentysomethings. It's standard Hollywood operating procedure and I won't nick it too much. It's very earnest in its portrayal of racism. O'Donnell is the one who has to play the middle. It's all very standard but then there is a great "Twelve Angry Men" section. I really like that scene. It allows the characters to have deep interactions. It's a great scene and makes this standard movie something better.

In the drama, School Ties a young Jewish man is faced with concealing his religious identity in order to "fit in" at the extremely expensive private school that he has been awarded a football scholarship to. I enjoyed the first half of the movie, it was filled with laughs and good fun with all the boys at the school. Things were looking up for the young man but it all went south as soon as his classmates discovered who he really was. The fact that somebody could befriend someone and then totally betray them just because of their religion disgusts me, there were some scenes in the film that really got to me and made me quite upset. Although it does show people how real anti Semitism is in our world. In the society we live in people are raised to be an anti Semitist even if they are not meant to be. All in all I would have to say the film was alright but I think they could of used more explanation as to what happens at the end.

David Greene (Brendan Fraser) is a Jewish high school senior who transfers to a New England prep school upon being awarded an academic scholarship for football. He is an amiable guy, if you're on his side, and doesn't look to hurt anyone, but the albatross around his neck is his religion in a sea of Catholic teenagers.David is told to keep his religion on the down-low by his coach, but it winds up slipping out through another kid in a drunken haze right when he is starting to fit in well with the other kids. One person intimidated by his presence and disgusted at his Judaism is Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon), the football team's quarterback who comes from a prestigious legacy family like many students at the school. Once David's secret is out, he is the target for religious bigotry and hatred and becomes a target for immature male aggression.Robert Mandel's School Ties is a strong showcase of hypocritical religious practice and the stupidity of religious hatred in general. Writers Darryl Ponicsan and Dick Wolf smartly structure the picture to show the behavior around David (who I wouldn't believe has a coincidental name if you assured me) prior to him being revealed as a Jew before the ball is dropped. Having David enter the prep school an outspoken Jew would've destroyed one of School Ties's immediate impact as a film that showcases the inanity of religious intolerance.Case and point, upon entering the prep school, David is accepted despite coming from a working class town and family. He theoretically should be an immediate outcast not for his religion but his socioeconomic status, but thanks to his charm and easygoing nature, he is accepted into the school's most popular circles among entrance. Once his religion is revealed, however,the boys at the school no longer judge him as a character but a low-level, subhuman piece of waste that seemingly wandered into the school one day unaware of what he got himself into.In this depiction is where the forces of Mandel, Ponticsan, and Wolf come together to create an important film about how many of us inherently accept new people with open arms, judging on good character and friendliness, until we find a disagreement in their personal politics, values, or religion to ostracize him. David himself is understandably confused here. They liked him before they even knew he was a Jew, and saw him as an intelligent friend to value. But because he has different religious beliefs, he is given the cold shoulder by his peers.For this, School Ties deserves praise. On the other hand, it adheres to a lesser-seen, methodical formula about fitting in and not fitting in in a new school and the mental, sometimes physical torture that ensues. It would be a hard cliché to subvert, but this is made a lesser-known feature thanks to the believable acting of Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, and Chris O'Donnell, all of whom saw their careers take off upon the release of this film. If there were ever a film to show why I shy away from a religious bias and find its social reception to be baffling, School Ties is it.Starring: Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Chris O'Donnell, and Amy Locane. Directed by: Robert Mandel.