Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Cassandra
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
mtloans
I was at (3) elite Prep Schools at the same time: 1958 -1965 beginning in 7th grade. There were Jewish kids at the schools and a few black kids. I don't buy all the discrimination whatsoever - there wasn't any.Funny, at one school I went to we recruited an ethnic Catholic kid and we were a Protestant School. That kid eventually played in the NFL. No problems at all.Another school I went to was the best football team in the state and the stars were mostly Jewish and no one thought anything of it.So, be careful when you watch what B.S. lines Hollywood wants to feed you. They mostly voted for Obama who has shown himself as a total racist 100% of the time after promising "healing". What a liar.
vincentlynch-moonoi
I think this film, in regards to antisemitism, is second only to Gregory Peck's "Gentleman's Agreement". The setting is very different here -- a prep school, but the message is similar.Aside from the topic itself, the cast is interesting to watch -- Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck -- all very, very early in their film careers.The story is rather simple -- a very WASPish prep school with a losing football team, but a demanding alumni group with deep pockets, recruits a gifted high school quarterback (Fraser). There's just one problem -- he's Jewish, but that can be kept a secret. After he steals the spotlight and the girl from the former primary quarterback (Damon), the secret does what most secrets do -- it slips out. And suddenly the star quarterback who was just one of the guys now isn't one of the guys at all. Then there's a cheating scandal, and it's all dumped on the Jewish guy...after all, cheating is the kind of things that "dirty Jews" do. Right? But, as you might expect, it's Damon who maneuvers the situation. And how will it all end? The (then) young actors do amazing jobs here, although Affleck has one of the smaller roles. Fraser and Damon are terrific, as is the girl friend -- Amy Locane.The one criticism I have is of the scene where in about 30 minutes they dismantle are car and reassemble it in an "evil" house father's room. No, just not possible...at least in that amount of time.But aside from that frivolity, if you like serious movies, this is a very good one!
tieman64
Robert Mandel's "School Ties" stars Brendan Fraser as David Greene, a working-class Jew who earns a football scholarship to an exclusive Massachusetts school. As its 1955, and anti-Semitism is rife, Greene must hide his Jewish identity in order to avoid persecution.Much of "School Ties" watches as Greene struggles to keep a lid on his temper when his privileged, WASP classmates indulge in anti-Semitic remarks. This aspect of the film is handled well. What's bizarre, though, is the way Mandel ignores Greene's working-class roots. For Mandel, class bias is inconsequential, is a nonexistent prejudice. In reality, in the Ivy Legues, such things would have been as big a, if not bigger, stigma."School Ties" co-stars a young Chris O'Donnell and a younger Ben Affleck. A pre-fame Matt Damon steals the show; he plays a spoilt kid who explodes into unbridled, fascistic hate. Though contrived in parts, the film is fun, engrossing and beautifully shot, offering glimpses of Pennsylvanian industrial estates and the leafy grooming-houses of upmarket Massachusetts.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing. See "The Paper Chase".
TxMike
The opening shot establishes that the area is a coal, steel, and manufacturing area. Blue collar workers. Pennsylvania. This movie tells a story of a really fine high school quarterback who is convinced to attend an exclusive Massachusetts prep school for his senior year, as a way to gain entry into Harvard. Plus, the St Matthew alumni hope he will give them the firepower to beat their long-time rival.Brendan Fraser is the young quarterback, David Greene. But he has a secret, he is a Jew, and he is advised to "hold things close to the vest", don't reveal more than you need to. In that area, in the 1950s, anti-semitism was alive and going strong.The young quarterback proves to be everything on the football field that the coach wanted, and was a good performer in the classroom. But his secret was to eventually get out and that brings a new layer of drama to the story.A very young (19 or 20) Matt Damon is Charlie Dillon. Charlie has a number of issues. Being from the Dillon family much is expected. His brother is already a football star, and as last year's quarterback is being pushed out by David's recruitment. Add to that his long-time girlfriend takes a strong liking to David, and announces "I wish Charlie would quit saying I am his girl." And, if all that were not enough, Charlie is having a tough time accepting that he may just be ordinary. He craves the approval of his family.Other students are Chris O'Donnell, Cole Hauser, and Ben Affleck in relatively small roles. The girl is pretty Amy Locane, about 19 or 20, as Sally Wheeler.There is a line early after David arrives at the new school, "I guess you haven't had time to buy school ties". They wore a particular necktie, and maybe that is where the inspiration for the title "School Ties" came from. Even if it did, the story really is about the students and their ties to each other, even when bigotry is being addressed and a cheating scandal has to be dealt with.Good movie, good young actors.SPOILERS: David gets mean responses from many of the students, including Charlie, after it is found out he is a Jew. Then at finals Charlie cheats, he takes a crib sheet into class, and then loses it for the professor to find. David and another student see him. Before every test they sign an honor code, so this is a big deal. Being on a Friday, the professor tell the class, come up with the cheater or you ALL will fail this class. Just before David is to tell the others what happened, Charlie stands up and falsely points to David as the cheater. The whole class discuss it over the weekend, vote, and decide it is David. As he leaves the room he tells them "I'll uphold YOUR honor code, I'll go to the headmaster and lie." But when he does the next day, the other student was there too and set the record straight. As Charlie was driven away from school, expelled, he tells David "I'll still get into Harvard and 10 years from now no one will remember this. You will still be a dirty Jew." To which David responds, "And you will still be a prick." David stayed at the school to finish his preparation for Harvard.
