Cheaters

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly thought provoking and engaging HBO film
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly thought provoking and engaging HBO film
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: Truly a bunch of losers
Review: ...BR>The students in this movie chose not make the investment, and so didn't deserve to win. They are shown repeatedly sleeping, reading comic books, and making out with each other while they should have been studying, and then they cheated so that they could displace the 1st ranked school, who despite the economic disparity, I'm guessing studied one *hell* of a lot harder that the cheaters did.
"Cheaters" does begin to make a good 'cheaters never prosper' point, but doesn't follow through with it. The main female character who is the first to leap on the opportunity to cheat ends up a a top notch college, and doesn't regret her dishonestly in the least because of some sense that "in the real world" you won't get anywhere unless you cheat. And then there is some sort of message conveyed that even though cheating was wrong in this situation, it rocked the boat enough to call attention to, and possibly change the fact that the competition was unfair because the rich school had more money.....Please! Give us a little more stinkin' credit as viewers. I'm not one to preach morality, but at least I know what's right and what's wrong, and when I do something wrong, I don't try to justify or rationalize it by saying that the system is messed up and I'm just trying to affect a change. I'm not the first to say it, I'm not the 10,000th to say it, but one of the biggest problems with the country today is that people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. There was *no* excuse for what they did, I don't care how downtrodden they felt after only coming in 5th at their regionals.
The last gripe I have is that "Cheaters" does not illustrate the vast amount of work and dedication that the non-cheating students put in to competition like this. Honest students get royally screwed when dishonest students cheat, and that is what makes what the students did in this movie so profoundly wrong. They felt like they were being ill-used by the rich school, but through their actions they completely disrespected all of the other poor inner-city schools that were in the exact same boat as they.
Good Points: good performances by all the actors, decent direction.

Rating:
Summary: Truly a bunch of losers
Review: ...BR>The students in this movie chose not make the investment, and so didn't deserve to win. They are shown repeatedly sleeping, reading comic books, and making out with each other while they should have been studying, and then they cheated so that they could displace the 1st ranked school, who despite the economic disparity, I'm guessing studied one *hell* of a lot harder that the cheaters did.
"Cheaters" does begin to make a good 'cheaters never prosper' point, but doesn't follow through with it. The main female character who is the first to leap on the opportunity to cheat ends up a a top notch college, and doesn't regret her dishonestly in the least because of some sense that "in the real world" you won't get anywhere unless you cheat. And then there is some sort of message conveyed that even though cheating was wrong in this situation, it rocked the boat enough to call attention to, and possibly change the fact that the competition was unfair because the rich school had more money.....Please! Give us a little more stinkin' credit as viewers. I'm not one to preach morality, but at least I know what's right and what's wrong, and when I do something wrong, I don't try to justify or rationalize it by saying that the system is messed up and I'm just trying to affect a change. I'm not the first to say it, I'm not the 10,000th to say it, but one of the biggest problems with the country today is that people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. There was *no* excuse for what they did, I don't care how downtrodden they felt after only coming in 5th at their regionals.
The last gripe I have is that "Cheaters" does not illustrate the vast amount of work and dedication that the non-cheating students put in to competition like this. Honest students get royally screwed when dishonest students cheat, and that is what makes what the students did in this movie so profoundly wrong. They felt like they were being ill-used by the rich school, but through their actions they completely disrespected all of the other poor inner-city schools that were in the exact same boat as they.
Good Points: good performances by all the actors, decent direction.

Rating:
Summary: Not Another Teen Movie
Review: About a year ago I stumbled upon this movie on HBO, but I had no idea what it was about, I thought it was like the TV show "Cheaters" so I started watching it, but to my surprise, it was actually interesting. The beginning of the movie starts out like any other teen movie about kids in Chicago but then turns itself into a drama that looks nothing like the way they advertise this movie on the front cover.

All the characters are provoking and interesting, and the storyline is driven really good and I found "Stand and Deliver" good but a little boring in pace, this movie is not. I never heard of the Steinmetz Fraud so I had no idea if the kids in the movie were actually going to get caught or not. And when they did I was really disappointed, and of course I wanted to kill the snitch who told on them in the movie!

I gave this movie 5 stars because this is the only movie that I have not found a problem with, it's really sad how Mr. Plecki only wanted his students to suceed and in the end he got severely screwed by a jealous student. It's really respectful how he covered it up at the end so the students don't get blamed.

Like someone else mentioned the only problem I have with the movie is that they got caught, they were such good liars and it was a really good cover up. If no one had cracked they probably would have gotten away with it and even though they did cheat, Whitney Young are still babies for being sore losers. It don't matter if it's a stereotype on them being cocky or not, in real life they probably acted the same way they did in the movie.

Also someone else mentioned how Whitney Young is not portrayed the way it really is, but at the end of the movie in the credits it says that some of the events and parts of the story are fictious and some things are added for dramatic purpose. Even though this movie is a true story, there has to be a villain to entertain and Whitney Young fit the bill perfectly.

So overall this movie is a 10 out of 10. I plan to buy it on DVD, and screw Whitney Young.

Rating:
Summary: Second Place, Young Magnet High?
Review: As captain of a Decathlon team myelf, I've been captiavted by the thought of defeating the now seventeen year champions. We watched the film as a team, and at the end of it, emerged newly inspired to our task of defeating Whitney Young.

To put it simply, the acting does not do the film justice. Sure, the coach is well played, by the students are feel more like children aspiring to be actors than actors aspiring to be children.

You would never think that a group of naive high school students would even attempt such a plot, or even that they are capable and calculating enough to hold out against the media and investigators for so long.

Welcome to life. When where you're born is all that determines your future, and when you come to that realization in an hour long ceremony honoring those who have been destined to defeat you, you too would do anything, ANYTHING to turn the tables.

Still, the movie takes too indulgent a view of cheating. Cheaters never prosper, and Jolie Fitch didn't really learn much. By the time the movie came out, she had dropped out of college, pregnant, and is now working in a department store in the suburbs. The one thing she did learn? Don't raise your kid in the city.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Film Of A True Life Story!
Review: Haven't we all been there? Wishing we could be better than someone else? Wishing that we had our turn in the spotlight? This is exactly how the movie "Cheaters" affected me. I found it truly amazing that this movie was made on a true story like this. The plot is really incredible and actually makes you ponder the question "What would I do in this situation?" Jeff Daniels and Jena Malone give such incredible performances in this movie. I believe that they are very convincing. If you are in the mood to be emotionally touched by a movie, "Cheaters" is the true direction for you to head in.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I also picked this up not expecting much. I was blown away! I am a student of screenwriting, and this is one of the best written and directed films I've seen in some time. Jeff Daniels gives his best performance since Gettysburg. Jena Malone finally gets a role she deserves and she makes it count. Not only is this a great story, but the attention to detail, visual images, coupled with great music set this movie apart. There is no wasted dialogue as John Stockwell uses the visual medium of film to perfection. I just wish there was more behind-the-scenes stuff on the dvd.

Rating:
Summary: Where's th TRUTH?!
Review: I attend Whitney Young, the school that was effectively villianized in Cheaters. I was incensed while reading the reviews that customers have given this movie. There are a few common misconceptions that people seems to believe, and it's entirely the fault of irresponsible filmmakers seeking a better plot through sensationalism. Prior to this film's release, the monitors in our lunchrooms advertised the movie because of our schools involvement. However, after there was a screening to the staff of the school, we were told not to believe the film, that it was not all true. Since no WY faculty was consulted for the film-- only Steinmetz faculty-- it's obvious why a bias existed. Whitney Young is NOT a suburban school. It is in the heart of Chicago. We don't recieve any special funding. Our bathroom stalls are written on,we have disciplinary problems, the usual. True, maybe ours aren't as bad as Steinmetz', but we are in no way treated any differently by the Chicago PublicSchools. The late Acadec coach who was shown betting in the movie was not the type of man who would do such a thing. our cheerleaders don't go to acadec competitions! we're not cocky, we don't think we're better than anyone else and we're one of the most diverse schools in chicago. the acadec team alone probably represents at least 10 different races. So as far as accuracy, this film is for the birds.