School Ties

Buy This Item School Ties by Paramount  Available from Amazon  $9.99  on 8-30-2008     Brendan Fraser plays a student attending a wealthy boarding school on a football scholarship in the 1950s. When the other kids find out he's Jewish--a fact he's been hiding--his fortunes and relationships instantly change. The film is pretty much what one would expect with that scenario: a story of bigotry, conflict, the hero trying to hang on. In the end, good intentions are the driving force of the movie, but it is not much more than the sum of its obvious parts. Directed by Dick Wolf, creator of television's <i>Law and Order.</i> <i>--Tom Keogh</i> Reader Reviews This is a very fine movie,well acted, once one clears the initial premise:imagine a strict Catholic Prep School of the 1950's admitting anyone who wasn't Catholic regardless of his football prowess.Once past that hurdle, it's clear sailing for the viewer.Fraser,as expected, lives up to his reputation on the field and in the classroom, and also steals Damon's girlfriend. Damon comes from a long line of Harvard graduates,and in succession is forced to play "second fiddle" to Fraser on the field, in the social scene,in class popularity.Enter bigotry, exit Fraser's school standing. Only late in the movie is his Judaic background exposed, leaving him the scapegoat in a cheating scandal,facing expulsion. Only at the very end is Damon's virulent bigotry revealed, and Damon's true role in the scandal is exposed. Immediate expulsion follows. But, one is left with the clear distinction that the remainder of Fraser's Senior year, if not his entire life,will be forever changed, and not for the better.

School Ties Available from Amazon Price: $9.99 Updated on 8-30-2008.

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