School Ties (1992)

Main parts of the movie are not believable. If Matt Damon wasn't angry at Brendan Fraser for taking his girlfriend, would he tell classmates that David was Jewish? David helped them win. So, it's not clear at all. The headmaster, the coach, a few alumni knew that David was Jewish. They decided to enroll David. If kids don't like it, too bad. My favorite part is when David puts Magen David back on after kids find out he is Jewish. It's a great lesson. Don't try to blend in. Whenever Jews try to blend in, eventually they suffer. Obviously, it's hard for a high school senior to understand. Especially, when there are so many incentives to do so.

David Green (Brendan Fraser) is a star quarterback from working class Scranton, Pennsylvania in the 50's. He's Jewish and gets into fights for that. He gets a scholarship to an exclusive prep school for the senior year aiming to get into Harvard. His coach suggests keeping his Jewish heritage a secret. He is befriended by nice roommate Chris Reece (Chris O'Donnell), Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon) who wants to be the quarterback, Jack Connors (Cole Hauser) and others. After winning a big game, he falls for Sally Wheeler (Amy Locane) whom Dillon also likes. Dillon is embarrassed on the field. He discovers Green's Jewish heritage and unleashes anti-semantic feelings among the students.Something bugged me throughout this movie. They're supposed to be high school seniors but everybody looks like they're twentysomethings. It's standard Hollywood operating procedure and I won't nick it too much. It's very earnest in its portrayal of racism. O'Donnell is the one who has to play the middle. It's all very standard but then there is a great "Twelve Angry Men" section. I really like that scene. It allows the characters to have deep interactions. It's a great scene and makes this standard movie something better.

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!

It was well written, inspiring, revealing, and a reminder that we are still in 2013 only 60 years away from a time of great hatred and prejudice in America. Generations of bigotry are still yet to be undone. We need to create dialog and not make assumptions about any segment of society or pass judgement simply because they are different. The film begins painting a picture, setting the stage, identifying the key players, there was inciting action, and the pacing was excellent. Moment by moment I was gently lead from one scene to the next, often with great suspense. In the end my own prejudices were re-examined and I began to think not just about anti antisemitism, but other forms of hate speech and discriminatory language that I might not even be aware of. I also feel that the writers accurately portrayed their point of view with sensitivity and shared a beautiful story with the world . I'd highly recommend.