School Ties

The performance of Mr. Fraser is incredible he plays his role with a passion and precision I have seldom seen in other actors short of the Jack Nicholson's and Robert De Nero's of the world. It is a story of teenage troubles with "fitting in" and the search for identity mixed with the horrors of prejudice. The film does not get bogged down in useless scenes and dialog to dive home its point. It is an "issue" movie that is subtle enough that you may not even realize it was an "issue" movie until after it is over. The story line never slows down there is always something going on that is both attention grabbing and pertinent to the plots development. Without the use of blatant sex and violence this film showcases the talent of three rising young stars (Chris O'Donnell and Matt Damon also star) as actors, not the big box office stars or teen heartthrobs, that they all went on to become. This is a well written, beautifully directed and phenomenally acted film that anyone can enjoy and relate too.

It's a line the headmaster of the school asks the star quarterback David Greene when he catches him praying at church after curfew but praying in observance of the Jewish new year. Greene's reply to the Headmaster of this Christian Prep Academy is..."mine or yours". This is the essence of the storyline. A Christian Prep Academy in New England is tired of mediocrity in football and losing to their arch rival so they compromise their admission standards by recruiting a brilliant student athlete from Pa. The problem isn't that David Greene doesn't measure up academically, it is that he is Jewish.

Soon after coming to school Greene realizes his classmates disdain and ridicule for Jews. They scorn them and make stereotype remarks that bother Greene but he is determined to fit in. Eventually his classmates and friends discover his secret and this is as far as I go. See the movie and see how David and his friends handle the situation.

Fine performances are put in by Brendan Fraser, as David Greene. You'll be astonished at the youthful talent in the movie as really good performances are put in by Matt Damon, his real life buddy Ben Affleck, Chris O'Donnell, and all the others. I really enjoyed the story, the time setting, and the substance of the message.

I liked this movie the first time I watched it,which is probably why I have watched it twice since then.Seeing future stars in a small time movie was a bonus but it was the story that appealed to me.Anti-Semitism was once the "in-thing",just as lynching African Americans was once accepted and condoned.It's a sad and shameful part of our history,a part that we'd like to forget but we most definitely shouldn't...because if we do we just might repeat ourselves,and nobody wants to do that...do they?

I think "School Ties" gets the point across.Sure the script has its flaws,but which script doesn't?The story is an important one.Each time we watch it we"ll remember and that's a good thing,'cause we just might forget and that would be dangerous.

I see this movie every once and a while on USA or TNT, I never watch all of it, but a few days ago I finally did and it was absolutely wonderful. It makes you wanna watch it again. Though some parts were slightly disturbing, the movie was still excellent. "School Ties" is set in the late 50s early 60s i do believe and a jewish kid goes to a basic prep school, all white, all Christian. He is a successful football player and makes many friends and is quite popular. But has to keep his religion in secret in fear of mockery and torment of his fellow classmates. Starring this wonderful cast, Brendan Fraser in his first major role, Matt Damon & Ben Affleck back when they were young and innocent. Before they had Oscar nominations starring in low-budget dramas. This movie is excellent, I give "School Ties" 10/10!

What is it about Jews that so many people hate them? From as far back as the Old Testament, to the weekly ramblings of Pat Buchanan and the fanatical Iranian president, Jews just can't seem to catch a break. What is it they've done that's so bad? They murdered Jesus, did they? And the Romans had nothing to do with that?

Anyway, this is a better film than I expected. Not only does it give us an interesting protagonist, but it allows us to feel like the outsider he is when he arrives at the elite prep school. Regardless of their religion, few people ever get a chance to attend such a ritzy school. Brendan Fraser plays David Green, a working-class Jewish kid who gets a football scholarship to St. Matthews for his senior year. The school is filled with smart and athletic young men destined for Ivy League schools and eventual seats at the head table of our society. The other boys David quickly befriends are played by a who's who of young acting talent just before they became huge stars. Chris O'Donnell, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck are all on display. Matt Damon's Charlie Dillion character is a real jerk. All the guys crack little Jewish jokes here and there, but once Damon learns the new kid's secret. He cranks the Anti-semitism level to really ugly levels.

Luckily for these guys, David Green knows that he has a great chance of getting into Harvard if he just ignores their jokes as long as they don't find out he's a Jew. Green is a tough kid who's had to fight for everything he has, and he could easily beat the snot out of any of them. Once the secret is out, the boys he thought were his new friends suddenly become either indifferent to him, or his enemies. The new girlfriend from a nearby school who adored him also turns her back once she learns his religion. The film could have stopped there and just been a pro-tolerance kind of exercise, but luckily there are other things going on. One of the boys is caught cheating, but the faculty doesn't know who. Unless the boy comes forward, the entire history class will be flunked for breaking the honor code. Green becomes a suspect because he initially hid his religious identity. Will he to take a fall for the guy who cheated?? The film is thoughtful and has interesting characters where it could have just given us closed-minded bigots. Even though we know these guys are ant-Semites, we at least see them as real people with complex problems and motivations of their own. The film boasts some beautiful and realistic locations in most scenes. There are some subplots not fully motivated or fleshed out. What exactly happens to the boy who bolts from his French exam? What became of him after his nervous breakdown? And why did this film feel the need to recylce a gag from the movie Real Genius about putting an intellectual's car inside his dorm room?? Still a very good movie that might make you think twice about cracking ethnic jokes around people you don't know that well. 8 of 10 stars.

The Hound.