School Ties
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| School Ties | |
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 Theatrical poster for School Ties |
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| Directed by | Robert Mandel |
| Produced by | Stanley R. Jaffe Sherry Lansing |
| Written by | Darryl Ponicsan Dick Wolf |
| Starring | Brendan Fraser Matt Damon Chris O'Donnell Randall Batinkoff Andrew Lowery Cole Hauser Anthony Rapp Ben Affleck |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 18, 1992 |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
School Ties was a 1992 film directed by Robert Mandel that launched the acting careers of Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris O'Donnell. Cole Hauser, Randall Batinkoff and Anthony Rapp also appear in the film.
Brendan Fraser plays the lead role as David Greene, a Jewish high-school student who transfers from a Pennsylvania public school to a New England prep school in his senior year after he is awarded an athletic scholarship.
The tagline used to promote the film was Just Because You're Accepted Doesn't Mean You Belong.
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[edit] Plot Description
David Greene (Fraser) is a working-class Jewish teenager from Scranton, Pennsylvania during the 1950s, who is given an unusual football scholarship to an exclusive Massachusetts Anglo-Saxon prep school (called St. Matthew's, or St. Matt's for short) for his senior year, becoming the school's starting quarterback.
Before his journey to school, David gets involved in a fight with some motorcycle thugs at the local bar. The incident marks the first time in the film where David's Jewish heritage is insulted. The ensuing fight causes David to be bruised and battered, but he ends up overcoming the motorcycle gang leader in a back-alley brawl.
After the fight, David's injuries are noticed by his father, Alan Greene, who scolds David for getting involved in the scuffle. He tells David he "can't fight his way through life like this" even if his Jewish background is insulted, as this is his big chance to go to Harvard.
David boards the bus for Boston after being told by his father that he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone. After an emotional goodbye, he leaves for his long bus trip to school. He is met in the town of Cabot by his new football coach, Coach McDevitt and is driven onto the campus. His coach, after awkwardly asking about any special "dietary" needs David might have, presumably because of his Jewish background, tells David the other players will be curious about him and not to tell the others any more about him than he has to.
David then meets his roommate, Chris Reece, who introduces him to the other "big men on campus," Charlie Dillon, Jack Connors, and Rip Van Kelt. Dillon makes a crack to David about him being "the first ringer St. Matthew's ever hired." After telling the story of his scuffle with the local thugs, we are introduced to the character of "Mac" McGivern, a smallish man who cannot play football due to his size but is the team manager with a penchant for imitations of the legendary radio character "The Shadow."
Chris gives David a "school tie" to wear to the evening opening of the school term. Chris surprises David by correctly inferring David was offered an alumni scholarship -- and that they are tired of losing to arch-rival St. Luke's for the last three years. He informs him of the usual routine, which includes a visit to the chapel for a rousing rendition of a Protestant hymn that makes David uncomfortable. A speech from Dr. Bartram, the headmaster, follows, establishing the importance of the school's honor code and enforcement of that code by the school's Tribunal of Prefects (made up of seniors that include Van Kelt and Dillon).
That evening, David quickly becomes friends with the other classmates, which can be seen in the scene where they sing "At Smokey Joe's Cafe." It is here that David becomes aware of their feelings towards Jews in a conversation about McGivern's new hi-fi he "Jewed down" from forty to thirty dollars. It is also here they have their first run in with the ill-tempered Mr. Cleary, the house master, over the noise made by McGivern's record player. Behind Cleary's back, David jokes to the other boys by making ape noises after Cleary warns the students "not to bring the jungle into my house". The joke earns David a great deal of respect from his fellow students. Unfortunately for them the next morning, the group is shocked to find Cleary is teaching their section of French 4. He is particularly hard on McGivern after the previous evening's events.
Football practice opens as Coach McDevitt touts David's abilities to the team. At the evening meal, the boys are surprised to find David working as a busboy in the kitchen.
David calls home and is reminded by his father to get to temple on Rosh Hashanah, despite the fact his team has a game that day. Green establishes himself as the team's leader and throws a long touchdown pass late in the 4th quarter to give St. Matt's a 9-7 win in the game. That night while returning home from the game, Dr. Bartram notices a light in the chapel, where David is reciting Jewish prayers in honor of Rosh Hashanah:
Bartram: "You people are very ... determined, aren't you?"
David: "Sometimes we have to be, sir."
Bartram: "I seem to recall a blessing -- blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
David: "I wonder how meek they'll be when they do, sir."
Bartram: "Are you finished here, Mr. Greene?"
David: "Yes, sir?"
Bartram: "Then I suggest you sneak back to your room. I shall overlook this evening's infraction. Mr. Greene, was it worth it -- breaking a tradition just to win a football game?"
David: "Your tradition or mine, sir?"
The next scene follows the students from French class, as McGivern complains to Connors he is flunking the class after a difficult exam. A subsequent scene shows Dillon repeatedly missing questions from the teacher in history class, which will be important later in the film.
Later that evening, a dance is held between the girls of Overbrook and the boys from St. Matt's. It is here that David meets Dillon's girlfriend, Sally Wheeler (Amy Locane). Sally seems immediately taken with the new quarterback but Dillon whisks her away shortly after their introduction.
McGivern then gives a recitation in Cleary's French class of a passage that counts for a large portion of his final grade. Clearly nervous, McGivern stumbles over the translation several times and Cleary berates him (in French) repeatedly. McGivern is unable to complete the recitation and runs out of the classroom.
Sally unexpectedly calls David (initially pretending to be his sister) and they arrange a date for the weekend. However, before this occurs, McGivern, knowing he will now fail French and not get into the elite Ivy League school his family has been grooming him for, dresses in his school tie and suit and recites the French passage in the same classroom where he could not to do so several hours earlier, only this time to an empty room and in the dark. Concerned, David and the gang go looking for him and find McGivern in a cold sweat on the floor of the classroom reciting the passage over and over.
McGivern is taken out on a stretcher in front of a large crowd of students and faculty, including Cleary. Enraged, David confronts Cleary and yells "You did this! You did this! You rode him until he broke!" and appears close to striking him until Dillon holds David back. Dillon, sitting with David later, tells him he can't go after teachers like that. Dillon tells David he envies him because if David gets what he wants, he'll have deserved it -- while if he doesn't, he'll manage anyway. Dillon, on the other hand, is forced to live up to expectations. "If my name weren't Dillon, things would be different."
A plot for revenge on Cleary is hatched by the football team, in order to get back at him for McGivern's departure (revealed to be due to the nervous breakdown earlier) that ends with Cleary's green roadster being driven into his house room, much to the delight of David and the gang, who reprise their "jungle yell" from earlier in the movie.
Shortly thereafter, the long-awaited game with rival St. Luke's takes place. David is introduced to the Dillon family before the game begins, and Sally is again clearly smitten with David.
The game is hard-fought. On a key play, Coach McDevitt calls for a pass play but largely due to Dillon's insistence, David changes the play to a lead draw run to him. However, Dillon is hit and fumbles the ball, leading to a St. Luke's recovery. A few plays later, St. Luke's scores a touchdown. McDevitt admonishes David to call the plays he sends in from here on out.
Trailing 7-3 in the game's final minute, St. Matthew's advances close to the St. Luke's goal line. David calls a quarterback keeper play, imploring Dillon to "block your ass off for me." As the play develops, a would-be tackler nearly downs David. However, he manages to throw the poorly blocking Dillon in front of the defender with a firm push -- thus giving David the opportunity to dive into the end zone for the touchdown and a 9-7 win.
At a reception following the game, David is introduced to various distinguished alumni and Dillon is counseled by his father. David and Sally's relationship is finally revealed to Dillon, who storms off angrily to the bar and is provided a drink by an alumnus. During this conversation, a St. Luke's alumnus needles a St. Matthew's alumnus about bringing a Jewish player in to break the losing streak. Overhearing this, Dillon then confronts David about his heritage among the group in the shower that evening by telling a joke about Jews and Pat Boone, and informs the group David is a ringer that was brought in to win despite his Jewish heritage. A fight ensues between the two, broken up by Van Kelt and Chris.
David finds himself ostracized by his teammates and friends. Even when he attempts to console Connors, who is chastised by Cleary for apparently plagiarizing a French translation assignment, he is rebuffed. Sally also refuses to speak to him when he appears unexpectedly at her swim team practice. David is then insulted during the meal session by his former friends about slow service and loses his cool, only being restrained by the service captain. and someone enters David's dorm room and places a "Go Home Jew" sign above his bed with a swastika. He offers to fight the sign maker behind the dorm that evening, but David stands outside alone that night in the pouring rain as the residents of the dorm look down at him. He yells "COWARDS!" to the lit windows above as no one emerges to confront him.
The climax of the film occurs when exams come to the forefront. In history class, during an important exam, Dillon cheats using a crib sheet (made from Van Kelt's notes) and the sheet slips out of his folder at the end of the exam period. David appears to suspect the cheating occurring (as seen by his reactions during the test) but says nothing. The teacher discovers the sheet on the floor after class and then informs the group during the next class that someone cheated, and due to the school's honor code, the history class themselves must determine justice.
David confronts Dillon about the cheating, and Dillon tries to bribe David not to tell anyone. David, however, is determined to set things straight. During a meeting the next morning with the rest of class, Dillon turns the tides by accusing David of cheating. After hours of debate, the majority of the class finds David cheated, either because he is Jewish (which they say is an example of the fact that he has a history of lying, though he never actually lied about it, he just kept it concealed), or for fear that they will be ostracized for siding with him. David agrees to honor traditions and say he cheated to Dr. Bartram.
The next morning, David goes to the office to confess, but his history teacher and Van Kelt are in the office and step into the situation. Van Kelt admits he saw Dillon cheat. David does state that he broke the honor code by not bringing up the fact he saw Dillon cheat (as did Van Kelt) but Bartram absolves them both on grounds that this is another evolution of the honor code and sufficient lessons have been learned. Dillon, however, is expelled from school.
Bartram then states that he wants to forget the whole thing ever happened, to which David replies that "You're never going to forget this ever happened. Every time you see me on campus, you'll remember that it happened. You used me for football. I'll use you to get into Harvard."
David exits the administration building as Dillon's car pulls up and his window rolls down, resulting in the final exchange between the two:
Dillon: "You know something? I'm still gonna get into Harvard. And in ten years, nobody's gonna remember any of this. But you'll still be a god damn Jew."
David: "And you'll still be a prick."
Dillon's car then pulls away and the movie ends with David walking across campus amidst a postcard-type sunrise.
[edit] Cast
- Brendan Fraser - David Greene
- Matt Damon - Charlie Dillon
- Chris O'Donnell - Chris Reece
- Randall Batinkoff - Rip Van Kelt
- Andrew Lowery - "Mac" McGivern
- Cole Hauser - Jack Connors
- Ben Affleck - Chesty Smith
- Anthony Rapp - Richard "McGoo" Collins
- Amy Locane - Sally Wheeler
[edit] Production
[edit] Filming
- The scene shot at Skip's Blue Moon Diner was filmed in downtown Gardner, Massachusetts.
- Most of the movie was filmed on location at Middlesex School, in Concord, Massachusetts. In addition, Worcester Academy and St. Mark's School (both area prep schools) were also involved in the filming.
- Opening scenes are of the South and West sides of Wyandotte Street (RT.378 heading North), the Bethlehem Steel Plant and Zion Lutheran Church from the top of the graveyard looking Northwest to 4th Street. All on the South side of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
