School Ties

''School Ties'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Batinkoff, Andrew Lowery, Cole Hauser, Ben Affleck, and Anthony Rapp. Fraser plays the lead role as David Greene, a Jewish high school student who is awarded an athletic scholarship to an elite preparatory school in his senior year.

Plot

In September of 1955, 17-year-old David Greene, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, receives a scholarship for his senior year to St. Matthew's Academy, an exclusive Massachusetts prep school, because of his excellent grades and exceptional ability to play football – despite his working-class background. However, before arriving at school, David gets into an alleyway fight with a nearby motorcycle gang that insults him for being Jewish, which leaves him with a bruised forehead.

Upon arrival, he meets his roommate, Chris Reese, and his other teammates, Rip Van Kelt, Charlie Dillon, Jack Connors, and team manager, Mack McGivern, the most well-known and popular students from well-to-do WASP families. He also learns of the school's cherished honor code system. David becomes aware of widespread negative and stereotypical views about Jews at the school, including his new friends and teammates, and he chooses not to reveal his ethnicity.

David quickly becomes the football team's hero and attracts beautiful débutante Sally Wheeler, whom Charlie claims as his "girl". After defeating St. Matthew's chief rival, St. Luke's, an intoxicated teacher accidentally reveals to Charlie that David is Jewish. Out of jealousy, Charlie tells the rest of the football team about this in the shower, and David challenges him to a fight, which results in Charlie getting a bloody nose.

Soon, David's Jewish ethnicity becomes the center of attention, causing Sally and most other students to turn against David. David's classmates, led by Richard "McGoo" Collins and his bodyguard-like roommate Chesty Smith, constantly harass him, with only Reese and another unnamed student, who worked as wait staff in the cafeteria with David, remaining loyal. The final straw comes when he finds a sign above his bed bearing a large Swastika and the words "Go home, Jew." Finally, having enough, he furiously makes a public confrontation against everyone and demands whoever made the sign to meet him outside the building the following night. No one shows up, and David calls out the students' cowardice when he sees them looking out their dorm windows.

Overwhelmed by pressure to get accepted into Harvard, Charlie uses a crib sheet to cheat on a vital History exam. David and Rip Van Kelt spot him doing so but choose not to report him. After the exam, Charlie gets bumped into by another student when leaving the History class and accidentally drops the cheat sheet onto the floor. When the teacher, Mr. Gierasch, finds it, he informs the class that he will fail all of them if the cheater does not come forward. He instructs the students, led by Van Kelt, the head prefect, to convince the cheater to turn himself into the headmaster's office.

When David confronts Charlie and threatens to turn him in himself if he does not confess to cheating on the history exam, Charlie tells David about the pressure he is facing, apologizes for conspiring against him, and unsuccessfully attempts to bribe David into silence. Later, just when David is about to reveal Charlie as the cheater to the other students at the table, Charlie gets up and publicly accuses David of being the cheater. They try to fight each other, but Van Kelt stops and tells them to leave and let the rest of the class decide who is being honest. Both agree although Reese tries to convince David not to because he says the rest of the class will be prejudiced against him. The majority of the class blames David out of antisemitic prejudice, while Reese, the unnamed student, and Connors, going against his self-professed antisemitism, argue that it is unlike David to cheat and lie. Despite this, the class votes to convict David, prompting Van Kelt to tell him to report to the headmaster, Dr. Bartram, to confess to the cheating.

David goes to Bartram's office and says that he is the cheater. Unbeknownst to him, Van Kelt had already told the headmaster that the offender was Charlie. Bartram tells David and Van Kelt that they should have reported the offense, but he absolves both. David then angrily states that he will use this school as a springboard to further his education, the same way the school uses him for football.

As David leaves the headmaster's office, he sees Charlie, now expelled from St. Matthew’s, leaving the school. Charlie says that he will be accepted to Harvard anyway and that years later, everybody will have forgotten about his incident, but David still will be a "Goddamn Jew." David laughs him off and says to Charlie that he still will be a "prick," and walks away.

Cast

Filming

Most of the movie was filmed on location at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. The scene at the bus depot in Scranton, Pennsylvania, was filmed at a liquor store (the former train station) in Leominster, Massachusetts. The scene at Skip's Blue Moon Diner was filmed in downtown Gardner, Massachusetts. In addition, Groton School, Worcester Academy, Lawrence Academy at Groton and St. Mark's School (all area prep schools) were involved in the filming.

Opening scenes are of the Bethlehem Steel Plant shot from the 900 block of E. 4th Street, Zion Lutheran Church from the top of St. Michael's Cemetery looking northwest to 1000 block of E. 4th Street, and a car turning on to Buchanan Street from Atlantic Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Mobil Station, Chip's Diner and the Roxy Theatre were filmed on Main Street in Northampton, Pennsylvania. The opening credits scene in front of Danas Luncheonette and some scenes inside were filmed in Lowell, Massachusetts. The middle dinner and dancing scene was filmed at the Lanam Club in Andover, Massachusetts.

Release

Box office

The film was a commercial failure, only grossing $14.7 million at the box office against a budget of $18 million. Despite this, the film provided some of the first major cinema lead roles for many of its cast, including Fraser, Affleck, Hauser and Damon.

Critical reception

''School Ties'' has a 61% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews with the consensus: "Led by an A+ cast, the road to ''School Ties'' is paved with good intentions that are somewhat marred by the honorable yet heavy-handed message against intolerance."

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' found the film "surprisingly effective", whereas Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' found it followed a "predictable path". Peter Rainer of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that he wished that David Greene could have been made a more imperfect character.

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray for the first time by Imprint in the fall of 2022.

See also

* List of American football films

References

External links

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{{Robert Mandel

1992 films
1992 drama films
1990s coming-of-age drama films
1990s English-language films
1990s high school films
1990s teen drama films
American coming-of-age drama films
American high school films
American teen drama films
Opposition to antisemitism in the United States
Films set in boarding schools
Films about antisemitism
Films about bullying
Films directed by Robert Mandel
Films scored by Maurice Jarre
Films set in 1955
Films set in Massachusetts
Films set in Pennsylvania
Films shot in Massachusetts
Films shot in Allentown, Pennsylvania
High school football films
Paramount Pictures films
1990s American films