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 Massachusettsprep 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 who are from well-to-do families. He also learns of the school's cherished honor code system. After learning that his newfound friends, as well as the majority of staff and students at the school, have widespread, negative and stereotypical views about Jews, he chooses not to reveal his ethnicity.
David quickly becomes the football team's hero and attracts beautiful débutante Sally Wheeler, who Dillon "claims" is his girlfriend. After a victory over St. Matthew's chief rival St. Luke's, an intoxicated teacher accidentally reveals that David is Jewish to Charlie. Out of jealousy, Dillon tells the rest of the football team about this in the shower room and David challenges him to a fight which results in Dillon getting a bloody nose.
Soon, David's Jewish ethnicity becomes the center of attention, causing Sally and most of the 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 remaining loyal. The final straw comes when he finds a sign above his bed bearing a Nazi flag 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, however, and David calls out the students' cowardice when he sees them looking out their dorm windows.
Overwhelmed by pressure from his prestigious family, Dillon uses a crib sheet to cheat on an important History exam. David and Rip Van Kelt spot him doing so, but choose not to report him. After the exam, Dillon 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 in to the headmaster's office.
When David confronts Dillon and threatens to turn him in himself if he does not confess to cheating on the History exam, Dillon tells David about the pressure he is facing and apologizes for conspiring against him and unsuccessfully attempts to bribe David into being silent. Later, just when David is about to reveal Dillon as the cheater to the rest of the students at the table, Dillon gets up and publicly accuses David of being the cheater. They try to fight each other but Van Kelt stops it and tells them to leave and let the rest of the class decide who is being honest. Both agree to do so, 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 blame David out of antisemitic prejudice, while Reese, the unnamed student, and Connors, going against his own 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 was the cheater. Unbeknownst to him, Van Kelt has already told the headmaster that the real offender was Dillon. Bartram tells David and Van Kelt that they should have reported the offense, but he absolves the both of them. David then angrily states that he will use this school as a springboard to further his education, the same way the school is using him for football.
As David leaves the headmaster's office, he sees Dillon, now expelled from St. Matthew’s, leaving the school. Dillon 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 Dillon that he still will be a "prick," and walks away.
Cast
Brendan Fraser as David Greene, a standout working-class Jewish student and football quarterback
Matt Damon as Charlie Dillon, a prefect, football player, and rival to David
Chris O'Donnell as Chris Reese, a prefect, David's roommate and football teammate
Andrew Lowery as Mack McGivern
Randall Batinkoff as Rip Van Kelt, head prefect and football team captain
Cole Hauser as Jack Connors, a good football player but slacker student
Amy Locane as Sally Wheeler who attends a neighboring all-girl boarding school and is David and Dillon's love interest
Peter Donat as Dr. Bartram, headmaster of St. Matthew's
Željko Ivanek as Mr. Cleary, house master and French teacher
Kevin Tighe as Coach McDevitt, St. Matthews' head football coach
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.[1] The Mobile 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.[4] The middle dinner and dancing scene was filmed at the Lanam Club in Andover, Massachusetts.[1]
Release
Box office
The film was a commercial failure, only grossing $14.7 million at the box office against a budget of $18 million.[2] Despite this, the film is remembered[by whom?] as providing some of the first major cinema lead roles for many of its cast, including Fraser, Affleck, Hauser and Damon.[citation needed]
Critical reception
School Ties has a 60% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 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."[5]
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