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Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Batinkoff, Andrew Lowery ... see more see more... , Amy Locane , Cole Hauser , Ben Affleck , Anthony Rapp , Peter Donat , Zeljko Ivanek , Kevin Tighe , Michael Higgins , Ed Lauter , David Caldwell Allen , Ryan Anderson , Jayce Bartok , Gregory Chase , Cody Conklin , John Cunningham , Stanton Denman , Dan Desmond , Alice Duffy , Claudia Everest , Elizabeth Franz , Ken Garito , Matt Hofherr , Susan Johnston , Luke Jorgensen , Thomas Rhett Kee , Sean Kent , Sandra Landers , Colin F. Lydon , Will Lyman , Peter McRobbie , William Meisle , Jane Nichols , Jeff Nichols , Benari Poulten , Rick Rodgers , Edward Seamon , Karen Shallo , John Sprerdakos , Leon B. Stevens , Victoria Hochberg , Pat McCorkle , Lisa Beach , Kent Osborne , James Donnell Quinn

An assemblage of young Hollywood actors poised for stardom marked this tale of anti-Semitism at a 1950s prep school. Brendan Fraser stars as David Greene, a working-class Jewish quarterback from Scran... read more read more...ton, Pennsylvania, who is offered a senior year scholarship to a prestigious New England academy. It's David's ticket to an Ivy League education and a way out of his Rust Belt hometown, but there's one condition: the school's elders ask him to be discreet about his religion. At first willing to do so, David struggles with his silence about his faith as his popularity grows. David strikes up a friendship with his roommate Chris Reece (Chris O'Donnell) and a possible romance with Sally Wheeler (Amy Locane), a student at a nearby girls' school. When jealous classmate Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon) learns David's secret at an alumni party, he exposes the school's new gridiron hero, and David faces the full force of religious intolerance from the prejudiced WASP institution. Also featuring early performances from Ben Affleck, Anthony Rapp, and Cole Hauser, School Ties was loosely based on the real-life experiences of producer Dick Wolf, creator of TV's popular series Law & Order. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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68% liked it

32,976 ratings

Critics

68% liked it

37 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Robert Mandel

Release Date: September 18, 1992

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DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999

Stats: 916 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (916)

  • LWOODS04
    December 31, 2010
    LWOODS04
    Cast: Brendan Fraser, Chris O'Donnell, Matt Damon, Randall Batinkoff, Ben Affleck, Amy Locane, Cole Hauser, Andrew Lowery, Anthony Rapp, Zeljko Ivanek, Peter Donat, Kevin Tighe, Michael Higgins, Ed Lauter, Peter McRobbie

    Director: Robert Mandel

    Summary: David Greene (Bren... read moredan Fraser), a working-class Jewish teen, receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s. But in favor of fitting in, he chooses to hide his religion from his wealthy, prejudiced classmates. Greene soon becomes the team's star player and wins the attention of a beautiful debutante (Amy Locane). But when his heritage is revealed, his schoolmates' deep-seated hatred rises to the surface.

    My Thoughts: "This film is a good example of how people label other people and put them into certain categories whether it be of religion, skin color, sexuality, or their nationality. This film focuses on a Jewish boy, but it speaks for everything I listed. You cannot, as they say, judge a book by it's cover. That is brilliantly shown in this film. With David withholding his religious beliefs, he is welcomed in as one of their own. But once he is outed by a fellow 'friend'(I use that term loosely), he is shunned by them all (well almost all). So instead of him being that person they had come to know him as, he was now in that labeled box of ignorance. You cannot judge a person or persons by a religion, race, nationality, sexuality, or by their appearance. They do not make up for that one person at fault. This film has great acting by all the well known actors of today. Great to go back and see them before they were such big stars. This has to be my favorite performance from Brendan Fraser. Great job by the entire cast. If you haven't seen it, then you should."
  • ScoopOnline
    December 11, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    The Sad thing is that there is still that hate against Jews going around. Outstanding peformance by Brendan Fraser
  • SirPant
    September 22, 2009
    SirPant
    Watch this instead of Dead Poets Society, it?s not brilliant but it?s much better.
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    In "School Ties," Brendan Fraser plays as David Greene, a Jewish football star who is attending a preparatory boarding school on a football scholarship. The majority of the people take a keen liking to him; he makes a lot of friends and falls in love with a certain girl, so his l... read moreife is pretty much going along without hitting any bumps in the road. That is, until some people find out that he's Jewish and start turning against him, mainly Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon). David's life could completely fall apart, or something could happen and he could gain back respect and get back to where he was.
    "School Ties" was a movie that jumpstarted the careers of a few actors who are now big stars, such as Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser. The movie is interesting and it has a lot of upbeat, suspenseful drama, both good and bad during the whole movie. It's one of the best movies of its kind that I've seen, no doubt. It's a realistic movie about prejudice and it's a classic one at that.

    While "School Ties" has a great script, plot, and everything else it needs to succeed, what really pushes it to be the great movie that it is, is Brendan Fraser's superb acting. He does one of his best, if not his best acting job of all time in "School Ties." I really want to give this movie five stars, but I can't. The reason for that is because when the movie ends, it just leaves certain question unanswered. Other than that, this movie is top notch. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000.
  • sainttom93
    January 14, 2007
    sainttom93
    One of Brendan Frazier's best
  • xxdebxx
    July 11, 2011
    xxdebxx
    Is it worth breaking tradition?

    Brendan Fraser stars as David Greene, a gifted student and an all-American high school football player admitted into a Catholic school for the academically talented, for the purpose of giving them a winning football team and giving himself almos... read moret certain admittance into Harvard. With the exception of the coach and a few high-up faculty members, no one knows that David is Jewish and when he realizes that almost everyone there hates Jews, he hides his ethnicity. Of course, someone eventually finds out and David now faces intense racism from those who were once his friends including Charlie (played by Matt Damon) who takes a liking to David until David steals his position on the football team and even the girl he has a crush on. David, now ostracized by his peers, has a chance at redemption when he sees one of the other students cheating on the midterm exam but the tables are turned when he himself is accused of cheating. The rest of the film focuses on whether or not the truth will come out and what the consequences are. Lots of attractive young actors here including Cole Hauser, Ben Affleck and Chris O'Donnell who shines as David's roommate with a heart of gold who doesn't agree with the religious discrimination!
  • fb25827189
    October 6, 2011
    fb25827189
    Brendan Fraser's best movie!
  • irisheyes686
    March 26, 2011
    irisheyes686
    This was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of Brendan Fraser, but he wasn't too bad. Pretty good cast overall and a good story. I didn't realize this was such an issue in the '50s, and it was interesting to learn about.
  • leekyle1968
    February 23, 2008
    leekyle1968
    If you ever have chance to sit down and watch this i suggest you do so. Awesome movie, one of the very first roles for matt damon.
  • ileo
    November 30, 2007
    ileo
    Here's a great film, and one of my favorites. A great all-star cast with an even greater plot that holds the entire film at attention.

View All School Ties Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
October 15, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

This is a bewildering mixture of fairly accomplished storytelling, awkward contrivances in the script, and lies in the overall conception so egregious they undercut any pretensions the film might have... Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

School Ties has a leafy, genteel look that is somehow less than convincing, perhaps because the hairdos are too tidy and the resemblances to other prep-school stories too clear. Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Good intentions go for naught as director Robert Mandel (F/X) pounds home every contrivance in the script by Darryl Ponicsan (Taps).

Jeanne Cooper
January 1, 2000
Jeanne Cooper, Washington Post

There's a dramatic imbalance to Dick Wolf and Darryl Ponicsan's screenplay. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

School Ties is surprisingly effective. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

Director Robert Mandel, best known for the flashy techno-thriller F/X, brings a surprisingly sensitive touch to this earnest story of intolerance. Full Review

Randy White
January 2, 2011
Randy White, Common Sense Media

Stirring movie may be too heavy for some tweens. Full Review

October 15, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

In the real world, it's more likely that Greene's working-class background would work harder against his acceptance at a snooty prep school than his religious beliefs, but School Ties largely ignores ... Full Review

Matt Mueller
October 15, 2007
Matt Mueller, Empire Magazine

The boys put in fine performances but sadly the script lacks the depth of what could have been a challenging story. Full Review

October 15, 2007
Film4

Fraser, O'Donnell, Damon and Affleck would all go on to have much hyped careers, and occasionally make better films than this overbearingly worthy classroom drama. Full Review

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School Ties Trivia

  • This Blast from the Past cut his School Ties and 'weased the juice' with Pauly Shore but still ended up With Honors.   Answer »
  • Dogma School Ties Stuck on You  Answer »
  • Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser and Chris O'Donnell play classmates in what movie?  Answer »
  • I was a jew in School Ties, I was an airhead and I was blast from the past... Who I am???  Answer »
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