Synopsis
When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.
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Cast
- Brendan FraserDavid Greene
- Matt DamonCharlie Dillon
- Chris O'DonnellChris Reece
- Randall BatinkoffRip Van Kelt
- Andrew LoweryMcGivern
- Cole HauserJack Connors
- Ben AffleckChesty Smith
- Anthony RappMcGoo
- Amy LocaneSally Wheeler
- Peter DonatHeadmaster Bartram
- 75
Chicago Sun-Times
School Ties is surprisingly effective. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Playing Mr. Perfect, Brendan Fraser — yes, Encino Man — proves a smart and likable actor, alive to what’s going on around him. Sidney Poitier proved you could keep your integrity even in a role like this, and Fraser does too. - 70
The New York Times
David's habit of grabbing, berating or otherwise challenging anyone who insults him gives School Ties a muscular quality not usually found in films about this subject. - 70
Time Out London
More notable perhaps for a roster of future stars and Oscar winners than for its unexceptional plot, this well executed film nevertheless has its charms. - 60
Empire
The boys put in fine performances but sadly the script lacks the depth of what could have been a challenging story. - 60
Los Angeles Times
This superman approach to character doesn't jibe with David's crisis of conscience. His smothering of his Jewish identity may make dramatic sense, but, the way it's enacted, it doesn't make much psychological sense. As Fraser plays him, David has such a robust sense of identity that his covertness isn't really believable. We keep hoping the film will turn into a movie about a kid who declared his Jewishness and fought the consequences. - 60
Washington Post
There's a dramatic imbalance to Dick Wolf and Darryl Ponicsan's screenplay. By making David a saint, they make his bigoted tormentors ultra-despicable. It's so easy to identify who's in the right that it's hard to remember this wrong may exist in us. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
As these films go, School Ties is more simplistic and has its dice more loaded than usual.