Customer Reviews

Cheaters

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was lucky enough to catch Cheaters on HBO around two in the morning. Though it might, at first, appear to be just another overly "hip" teen comedy, Cheaters is actually one of the best films about high school that I've ever seen. Nicely blending comedy and coming-of-age drama, Cheaters tells the true story of how underdog Stienmetz High School won the 1995 Illinios Academic Decathalon just to then lose their accolades when it was revealed they'd cheated. As someone who was a part of the whole AcDec subculture in high school, I can say that this film managed to perfectly capture the feeling and the atmosphere of that competition, showing not only how it often gives a much needed sense of purpose to students who, otherwise, don't have a place in the highly regimented caste system of high school but also how public, urban-based schools often face a great deal of elitist bias in favor of more exclusive private and magnet schools. While the film never makes the mistake of excusing or trivializing the cheating, it also makes it clear that the students of Stienmetz and similar schools often are treated unfairly by a stagnant system that has decided to give up on them. In the end, it's hard not to feel sympathetic to these students even as they cheat and it's also hard not to feel that, whatever mistakes were made, the actions taken as a result, by both the media and the Chicago School Board, were even worse. The film perfectly captures the exhiliration of the student's initial victory and, just as perfectly, the terror of being judged in the mad feeding frenzy that grew out of the Stienmetz Scandal. (In one of the film's best scenes, we watch as investigators tell lies of their own to trick the students into confessing just to then give a press conference where they tell reporters that the students are the "coldest," most calculating bunch of liars they've ever experienced.) The film benefits from a talented cast of mostly unknown young actors who manage to flawlessly blend into an always-watchable ensemble. The stand-out amongst the younger actors is Jena Malone, showing a previously untapped range as the most unrepentant of the cheaters. She manages to be chillingly single-minded in the way only a teenager can while at the same time displaying an appealing vulnerability. Too smart for the world of teenagers yet to young for the world of adults, Malone gives a performance similar to Reese Whitherspoon's ground-breaking and brilliant work in Election (which, itself, makes a nice companion piece to this film) but at the same time claims this character as uniquely her own and establishes herself as an underrated actress to watch. As the AcDec coach, Jeff Daniels gives probably his best performance since the Purple Rose of Cairo, bringing some wonderfully ambigous shadings to a character who, at first, just seems to be a stereotypical wimp. After years of appearing in roles not up to his talent, Daniels reminds us that he is one of our most unpredictable actors and his performance here, bravely playing a character who isn't always likeable, will keep viewers guessing as to whether Daniels is the story's hero or its villian. Amongst the other performances, mention should be made of Paul Sorvino who gives a brilliantly comical performance as the school's clueless principal. Even as one is left to ponder the many issues raised by the film, it's hard not to smile at just the image of Sorvino, joyously and ineptly dancing at a school pep rally while the band plays a listless version of "Gonna Fly Now." Its a small, almost cliched role but Sorvino brings a touch of inspired lunacy to both it and the film.

John Stockwell, who both directed and wrote the script, has made a name for himself by making films that deal with flawed human beings whose only real mistake is realizing that the world is made up of shades of gray even as everyone else insists that everything is black-and-white. A former actor who, like the students of Stienmetz, never quite got the appreciation he deserved, Stockwell has shown with this film, his later Crazy/Beautiful, and his script for Breast Men to have a valuable and unique talent for catching the absurdities of everyday life, consistently crafting scenes that manage to be both surprising and true-to-life. (Certainly one of the highlights here is a small but knowing scene where Daniels and his students plan their post-scandal damage control by watching Stand and Deliver, the prototype for the many dedicated-teacher-in-urban-school-films that this film both comments on and sends up). With Cheaters, Stockwell maintains a perfect combination of the absurd and the realistic while keeping the story moving at just the right pace. As well, Stockwell takes one of the most overused techniques of modern film -- the montage scored by an alternative top ten hit -- and actually manages to pull it off. This alone makes him nearly unique amongst Hollywood's young directors. Perhaps even more so than Crazy/Beautiful, Cheaters proves that John Stockwell is one of the most interesting unknown directors out there and stands as a glowing testament to both his talent and the talents of his unsung actors. By all means, see this film.

Cheaters is one of the best tv movies ever to come around. Jeff Daniels plays the Academic Decathalon coach who is fed up that the school he works at refuses to contribute any money to their cause and is generally mad about how Whitney Young is favored and his school is poorly funded. This is totally understandable, so when he finds his team with the help of Jena Malone, he really wants to prove everyone wrong by winning. When one of the students gets a copy of the test, they decide whether to look at it and of course can't refuse. The cast is very good here and i found the characters intriguing. This is not some rubbishy movie to pass time, it is well written and seriously interesting. I did of course hate whitney young and wanted steinmetz to win, even if they did cheat. ALthough cheating is wrong, I could see what drove them to want to win. Anyone can. Once they knew they had the test, it would be impossible for them to want to study when they knew the questions were right next to them. The only thing that I did not understand was how they never thougt about what would happen at nationals after they won state. I guess it would be too far in the future, but someone was bound to notice. It is too bad they cheated and got caught i guess. I still hate whitney young more, even though they did something wrong. I also was surprised that a teacher would have the same position on the subject as the students, but I could understand based on how his father worked hard and got screwed. The music in the film is also great. It was completly unfair that whitney young's advisor or whatever wanted them to take the test again, why should they have? That was outrageous and i seriously did hate the snitch in the film. He did not do it to clean his conscience or whatever, no no he wanted to become famous as the person who helped crack the case. Bottom Line: At least rent this movie, you will not be disappointed. It is that good!

"Cheaters" is an interesting study of the differences between suburban and inner-city schools and the biases that exist when an ethnically diverse academic decathlon team from a poor neighborhood beats the reigning champions from a plush suburb. The startling defeat is challenged without any proof of misconduct and as a viewer you really sympathize with the inner-city kids, even though they cheated.

The performances from Jeff Daniels and young Jena Malone ('Bastard out of Carolina' and 'Stepmom') really hold the film together and keeps you rooting for these kids against the hypocrisy of the school board and the rich kids who have everything handed to them.

This is one of the better HBO films to come out over the last year (in addition to the amazing 'The Corner') and will really make you think about the disparity and difference between socio-economic groups and the stigmatization some face when they triumph against the odds - no matter what the circumstances.

I never tender reviews but I think that a reply to the already posted reviews is in order.

First, cheating is wrong. Driving too fast is wrong. The best applicant not getting the job, office, etc. is wrong. Not paying your fair share of taxes is wrong. Getting off by a legal technicality although you committed the crime is wrong.

My point is that cheating is wrong but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad choice.

A chasm exists between reality and the pithy moral/ethical aphorisms we were taught as children.

Have you ever told anyone when breaking up with them (or the other way around) "it isn't you, it's my fault" when you knew that it really was them, but you didn't want to hurt their feelings?

This is reality. Reality is dirty, unfair, and it bites.

This is the lesson of this movie. Don't pitty these students or hate them. Just recall my paraphrase of the last lines of the flick, when one of the cheaters remarks:
"Yeah I got into college. The admissions officer thought my academic team experience built character...I learned more about life during the experience than any other time...If one of my students cheated, would I turn them the little bastards in? You bet, because if they can get past me then just maybe they are ready for the real world".

This is so familiar to me since, as a teacher, I see students all the time who are cheating or in the throes of the ethical dilemma about doing so. I never tell them one way or the other, but I know that many of them do cheat because I'm fairly bright and aware, but I am sure that there are some who even get by me.

Life [is tough], just deal.

Thanks for reading :-B

This movie presents a real moral dilemna..should students who have always been thought of as losers take a chance and cheat. The teacher has the toughest decision to make-weather to let his students cheat and what to do if they get caught. Jeff Daniels plays the part well-showing how he is torn-wanting his students to get recognition and wanting to teach them right from wrong. This movie has moral questions that we all face.

I saw this movie about two years ago when it first came out on HBO. Of course, I was thinking, this is going to be an extremely cheesy movie barely hanging onto the concept of Academic Decathlon (Aca Deca). What I got was quite a shocker. It is an excellent movie in all points of view. My personal favorite part is that it sticks very true to the concept of Aca Deca. It is very realistic in that aspect and they did a lot of resaearch into how it works. That to me is the most impressive part. But you can't let that cover up the brilliant acting done by the entire cast. It's a wonderful movie and I suggest it to anyone!

Cheaters is about the 1995 Academic Decathlon team from Steinmetz High School. Steinmetz HS is an overcrowded, underfunded school located in a poorer section of Chicago. Most of the students appear to be from blue-collar backgrounds. Gerard Plecki, an English teacher (well played be Jeff Daniels) organizes the AD team to try to compete at regionals, particulary against favorite and rival, Whitney Young High School, portrayed as a magnet school. At first the morale and motivation is high amongst the Steinmetz team but as they severely lose to Whitney Young at regionals, they increasingly view their situation as hopeless and lack confidence to compete at the state finals. However an interesting dilemma comes up as one of the team members comes up with a copy of the test for the state finals. Should the team cheat or stay honest? If they cheat, will they get away with it?

I thought this movie was excellent and honest. Although it wasn't right for Steinmetz to cheat, the movie shows that the world is not a level playing field and that people from more white-collar walks of life have much higher advantages and potential for success than those from blue-collar walks of life.

I was expecting this to be another goofy teen movie. I was pleasantly surprised. The young actors playing the students were very good. Jeff Daniels was perfectly cast as the world-wary, jaded school teacher. You actually find yourself hoping these kids will get away with it and Daniels is so likable as the sincere teacher that you don't see him as a bad person. The fact that he put his job so blatantly on the line says a lot about where his character was at in his life--fed up! Fed up with seeing his students beaten down because they were not wealthy. This one will make you think. Definatley give it a try. Great for kids too.

This movie is actually pretty good if you don't take into account actual facts as a basis for informing your opinion about the film.

I attended the "evil" school depicted in this film. My senior year in high school was during the time depicted in the film when Steinmetz High School "beat" out perennial (they had won 22 of the past 23 years of Acadec competitions as depicted in the film) champs Whitney Young in the Illinois Academic Decathlon. A bit of real background, Whitney Young is a Magnet high school within the Chicago Public School system. It is a public school but has selective enrollment. Whitney Young does not have "unlimited income" as portrayed in the film it receives funding just like other public schools in the city. Certainly any "extras" the school receives are a result of fund raising. Twice a year students are asked to sell items (e.g. candy bars) at about $200 a case to assist with tuition and fee costs. We had as many problems with malfunctioning toilets, leaky ceilings (there was a perpetual leak in one of the hallways) as any other CPS. The difference with WY is that the kids attending are considered academically gifted and must "test into" Whitney Young via a selective process. So, it is not a neighborhood school that just anyone can attend. Also, despite the film's portrayal the school is highly racially diverse 32% African-American, 28% White, 22% Hispanic and 17% Asian. About 1/3 of the kids attending Whitney Young are low income and as I one of those formerly low-income students I can tell you my Mom did not "know" anyone to pull any strings to get me into WY. Now, in the film Whitney Young is shown as being highly elitist and the students are shown as snobby brats. The statistics of who these kids are hardly bear this out. In addition, Mr. Minkoff (the Whitney Young Acadec coach) is portrayed as a sleezy slimeball that not only taunts the other Acadec coaches but bets on the winning odds! This portrayal is the exact opposite of who Mr. Minkoff was. Although I was not on Acadec I was in one of Mr. Minkoff's classes and knew him as a wonderful teacher who would never stoop to such levels. I also knew many of the students on Acadec and they were crushed to have lost and then when they were vilified in the local press as being sore losers when questions arose about Steinmetz's improbable scores it was a tough time for many of them. Many do not realize that winning Acadec was a way to ensure scholarships for these students and these scholarships would have been wrongfully stripped from them despite their incredibly hard work to win the competition. Finally, the film attempts to insinuate that somehow the students of Whitney Young are complicit in a conspiracy with Acadec to win every year. One character even states that Whitney Young students probably cheated just like them but have not been caught because of its elite status. This charge is disgusting and unfounded and really smears Mr. Minkoff (who passed away some years ago). After this fraud Whitney Young went on to become the #2 national winners in the country which further validates that these kids really were the truly talented winners. It must be said that to this day none of the Steinmetz students have expressed remorse about what they did. The Steinmetz Acadec coach also never admitted any guilt or remorse until the film's release which was quite coincidental to say the least.

Another couple of things: The film makers went out of their way to portray as the privileged elite vs. hard-working working class. The filmmakers did not request any insight or feedback from the students of Whitney Young, it Acadec team or its faculty. Their information was gleaned from the Steinmetz students and Dr. Gerald Plecki the faculty advisor the Steinmetz Acadec team.

Now, about the film. It is well-made and its protagonists are persuasive in their portrayal of the students. Jeff Daniels plays Gerald Palecki very well, with just enough common man angst and sleaziness to make him a persuasive but creepy teacher. With Daniels' portrayal you can see how persuasive a teacher can direct students looking for "an out" to collectively cheating. As in real life the kids have been studying hard to qualify for the state Acadec competition. They place but are 12,000 points behind the favored winners of the elite Whitney Young high school. In the film WY is said to be a private school within the public school system with state of the (at the time) computers, a sleek modern facility on an open campus with students that appear to be straight out of a poster for model high school kids. Steinmetz is shown from the beginning as having a "poorer class" of students. The students are shown fighting, smoking, screaming, cursing and bored. There is graffiti around and the neighborhood does not look particularly nice. This in direct comparison to WY where the school is located on the near west side just near downtown Chicago and the students are dressed as preppy kids with what seems perpetual smiles on their faces. Following their initial 5th place in the prelims which qualifies them to compete against WY and other schools at the state Acadec competition, the Steinmetz students are faced with a moral quandary. One of the students procures an advance copy of the actual Acadec test. Should they or shouldn't they use it to cheat and beat the smug WY team? They decide to cheat and the story goes on from there. It chronicles their win, the accusation of cheating, the media frenzy that erupts, the student's stubborn refusal to admit cheating and finally their downfall when a jealous team mate contacts the local newspaper to spill his guts and tell what happened.

The acting is well executed and the direction of the film is well-paced and the story is interesting. The flaw of the film is in its handling of this dilemma. According to this film because the "system" is stacked against the Steinmetz students their actions can be justified. Why shouldn't they teach if the world thinks nothing of them anyway? According to the film cheaters prosper more than the hard working joes of the world. While this may be true to a certain extent I think this lets off the cheaters and the adult advisor. The way the film portrays these kids it's as if there were no other circumstances under which they could have been recognized as successes other than cheating. But this seems to go against the reality as portrayed in the film. Case in point, when the Steinmetz kids finish in 5th place at the prelims to qualify for the state competition all of the students (but one) see this as an unqualified disaster. I am not sure but, if this was their first time ever even qualifying at such a level why would this be a bad thing? They finished 5th place in a competition with many other entrants including from schools considered more "elite" than Steinmetz. This win directly defies the logic of the film that these kids were somehow huge underdogs that could never possibly compete in a system supposedly stacked against them. Great acting and story telling but the logical leaps made in the film are too hard to swallow along with the shallow handling of the moral dilemma of cheating. None of the students, the teacher (or it seems the film's writer/director) find fault with what they did (this is also true in real life). The story ends with the main character portrayed by Jena Malone stating that she would do it all over again because she has learned how the world "really' works. Then on the radio a person calls in admitting to cheating all of his life but does not find this a moral issue. He cheated in high school, college, and law school and is an unqualified success (he equates success with making $700K per year). The film made a few parting concessions to the lack of morality such as when Dr. Palecki's mother states the obvious that nothing could make what he and the students did right no matter what they felt. But this was undercut by so many other instances in the film where this is loudly disputed.

I'm not sure how this movie premiered. I think it was on MTV, if I'm not mistaken! Did it come out in theaters?

In any case, it was certainly a sleeper. I had definitely heard of it, but it was not "OVERHYPED" as so many other films these days. So I wasn't expecting much! So imagine my delight, when I came across this DVD in the bargain bin at Walmart, and decided to take a chance!

Well, I'm glad I did! This movie was incredibly good! It really made you think about College (and high-school) life, and whether or not its worth it to cheat on an exam! There was great music, great personality clashes, awesome dialogue, great storytelling from the main female character.

I have actually re-watched this movie 3 or 4 times (probably more, but don't want to exaggerate.), and never get tired of it. It is a great lesson in ethics watching this movie.

Highly recommended!

MC White said: CHECK IT OUT!!!