Or, The only time Brendan Fraiser, Chris O'Donnell, and Anthony Rapp will headline above Matt Damon.
I really like Brendan Fraser. He hasn't always been in the best films, and some of them have been terrible, but he just seems like one of the nicest guys you could come across in Hollywood, or wherever he lives. My simple-minded infatuation with the man who played George (of the the Jungle) started when, as a young boy of around 12, I saw the 1999 version of The Mummy on DVD and was immensely pleased with the movie, as any boy probably would be. Later, I would be at home one weekend and settle down from my outside adventures to watch a weekend movie on one of the basic cable channels (this was a big deal when I was little). On this particular day I watched the film School Ties, and I was drawn into the story for reasons that transcendent the actual film itself. Growing up a white, southern Protestant, there was little I could relate to with Fraser's Jewish, New England football star, or so it seemed. We all feel a little out of our element sometimes, don't we? Whether for this reason or another, this film has always had a small special place in my heart.
School Ties is the story of David Greene, a young Jewish man in his senior year of high school in Scranton, Pennsylvania who is accepted on academic scholarship to a prestigious Massachusetts prep school. The main problem with this is that the school, like most prep schools of the time, was a Christian school, most likely Methodist. Throughout the film, David hides his Jewish identity from his football friends and new girlfriend, even as everyone around him casually throws around anti-Semitic insults like "Hebe" and "Kike". Eventually, thanks to the supreme douche played by Matt Damon, his Jewish secret is revealed to his classmates, causing rifts in all his friendships and a Nazi flag to be tapped above his bed.
The film, much to its benefit, explores more though: the role that generational expectations plays on youth, the role of the teacher, and a "rags to riches" mentality. All of these side stories converge on David's Judaism, though. If it was solely focused on the secret religion of David, the film would become over sentimental, in ways most PG-13 films on prejudices often do, unfortunately. The film really picks up when a student cheats on the History final and the teacher demands to know who committed the act. David witnessed exactly who did it, and comes to him personally to ask that the culprit turn himself in, or else the professor will make good on his threat to fail the entire class. That perpetrator happens to be Matt Damon's character, who has no problem turning the tables and accusing David based on the undeniable evidence that "he's Jewish, so obviously he cheats" rationale.
One of the best side plots, however, is the slow burn breakdown of one of the boy's pack members. Pressured often by his French teacher, played succinctly by Zeljko Ivanek, the student recites his French version of 'On Seeing the Elgin Marbles for the First Time' by John Keats in the classroom late at night after he had failed to do so earlier in the day. This is the point where we see David come to some sense of understanding. While he is an outsider because of his religion, he is also an outsider of privilege pressure. These boys have so much they are told to live up to, that it is near impossible to do so and still keep your moral center. In this case, David benefits from being a man out of his element.
The film itself, when not measured on an emotional level, is still quite good. Yet when I settled in to watch it recently, I saw some things I had not before, things that could be improved upon. Certain characters, namely of the administration and parental figures, could be fleshed out more to be more plot catalysts for the prep school boys. Namely, I would like to see Fraser's character's father examined more, particularly his role in his son's Jewish identity. While the pacing feels fresh, it is a little offbeat, and includes moments that feel bereft of real emotionality and instead plant in us sentimentality.
Written by TV producing legend Dick Wolf (Law & Order), and based off of his own personal experiences, the story moves along with the same spoken intensity that Wolf's shows seem to possess. Fraser, in what may be his best role still, plays the character straight forward, as I'm sure the screenplay calls for, but with a hint of underlying emotional current. Damon is more than adequate as the "villain" of the film, making you forget its the Matt Damon you know and love and instead just wanting the little jerk to get whats coming to him. The rest of the cast features an assorted group of future stars (a background Ben Affleck) and character actors (Cole Houser), all doing there jobs well here. The one thing seemingly absent here is the direction by Robert Mandel, whom I assume is a fine filmmaker and is current dean of the AFI conservatory, but the vision here seems standard, and it is really the story that sets this one apart.
In the end though, David comes through his struggles, though he is not the man he was when he entered. His roommate and closes friend, Chris (Chris O Donnell), tells him that he should have just openly admitted his religion off the bat, and he is right. It was the secrecy that made it what it was to David, that tortured him. Yet, the bigots at the school were also just as wrong in their actions. A pivotal moment comes after this suggestion to David, when he replies that they don't talk about Chris's religion. "Yea, but that's different", he says. How exactly is it? Is it that this school, being a Methodist school, it makes sense that Chris would be of the same religion, so why would they talk about it? I'm sure, in the best of ways, this is what his character meant when he said it, but what if it wasn't? What if it's "different" because his faith isn't the Jewish one?
Overall, School Ties is a film that stands out from the sentimental "breaking down hate" films of the 90s and 2000s. This is due mostly to its frankness, and honesty in its questioning. No character really comes full swing to the tolerant person. David is still angry at what has transpired and Chris, the one who shows kindness to Daivd no matter what, seems to be moving away from his prejudices, but slowly, more realistically. Then there's Damon's character, who in the final scene has a dialogue with David. "... And in 10 years no one will remember any of this. But you'll still be a goddamn Jew." To which David replies, without expression, "And you'll still be a prick." We can't help but think he's right.
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