''Code Breakers'' is a 2005 American

sports drama A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme (arts), theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus o ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by Rod Holcomb and written by G. Ross Parker, based on the 2000 non-fiction book ''A Return to Glory'' by Bill McWilliams. The film chronicles the real-life 1951

cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert or disobey rules in order to obtain unfair advantages without being noticed. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given pr ...

scandal at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, and the impact on its football team. It stars

Zachery Ty Bryan Zachery Tyler Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement''. He also appeared in the films '' First Kid'' and '' The Fast and the Furiou ...

, Jeff Roop,

Jake Busey William Jacob Busey (; born June 15, 1971) is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's ''The Frighteners'', Ace Levy in 1997's ''Starship Troopers'', Kyle Brenner in 2001's '' Tomcats'', ...

, Corey Sevier,

Theo Rossi John Theodore Rossi (born June 4, 1975) is an American actor and producer. He portrayed Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz on the FX series '' Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014) and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez in '' Luke Cage'' (2016–2018). In 2024, he por ...

, Robin Dunne, Adam Grimes, Jude Ciccolella,

Dan Petronijevic Daniel Petronijevic (born March 28, 1981), known professionally as Dan Petronijevic, is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various feature films, including the '' American Pie'' franchise, and in TV shows such as '' 19-2'', '' Playmakers'', '' ...

, Richard Zeppieri, and

Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...

as Coach Earl "Red" Blaik. The film aired on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

on December 10, 2005.

Synopsis

The film chronicles the 1951 cheating scandal at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and its impact on Army's football team, which was forced to dismiss virtually its entire squad. The film begins going into the 1950

Army–Navy Game The Army–Navy Game is an American college football college rivalry, rivalry game between the Army Black Knights football, Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen football ...

, the Cadets football team was heavily favored, yet went on to lose to a weak Midshipmen squad, 14–2. The Academy and football team were then thrown into a scandal when 90 cadets, including 37

lettering Lettering or Lettering design is an act or result of artfully drawing letters, instead of writing them simply. Lettering is considered an art form, where each letter in a phrase or quote acts as an illustration. Each letter is created with attent ...

football players, resigned in a cheating scandal which broke the Academy's Honor Code. The film follows Brian Nolan, a cadet who is led to a ring of cheaters when he is need of academic help to pass. A serious piece of the film involves the relationship of Coach Blaik and his son Bob, one of the cadets responsible for cheating.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. A principal shooting location was Victoria College. Cinematographer

Thomas Del Ruth Thomas Del Ruth (born May 1, 1942) is a retired American cinematographer. Biography Del Ruth was born in 1942 in Beverly Hills, California, as the son of film director Roy Del Ruth, and actress Winnie Lightner. He was educated at Van Nuys ...

used the 1950 film '' The West Point Story'', directed by his father

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893 – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the pr ...

, as a template in recreating West Point in the 1950s.

Release

The film aired on December 10, 2005 at 9 pm ET on

and ESPN HD.

References

External links