School Ties poster & wallpaper

Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell

A Jewish boy goes to an elite prep school in the 1950's and hides his religion until another student forces it out in the open.

Flixster Users

70% liked it

29,445 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

34 critics

PG-13, 107 min.

Directed by: Robert Mandel

Release Date: September 18, 1992

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999

Stats: 833 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

School Ties
Upload a Photo |

View All School Ties Photos (1)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (833)

  • SirPant
    September 22, 2009
    SirPant
    Watch this instead of Dead Poets Society, it?s not brilliant but it?s much better.
  • limoradalloway
    June 11, 2008
    limoradalloway
    Prep school movies are not complete without this dramatic gem. One of Brendan Fraser's best. I can't watch it anymore, though because I like Matt Damon so much.
  • crackingdanio
    May 16, 2008
    crackingdanio
    look at the amount of hollywood stars in this wow, great story about religious prejudices in schools
  • FangsFirst
    September 7, 2007
    FangsFirst
    I saw this movie in part a number of times when it was first being shown on HBO, and it was one of the first straight dramas to thoroughly catch and hold my interest. I've always had a great fascination for the easy sympathy grabbers (see: any films about prejudice or revenge, ba...( read more)sically) and this fits that bill pretty well.

    I believe it was actually my first exposure to Brendan Fraser, though the entire rest of the cast was unknown to me at the time. It's bizarre to see now that the main antagonist is none other than Matt Damon and I just never knew it before.
    Excellent performances all around as I've always remembered, and just generally a darn good movie.

    It's very nice and refreshing and interesting that it wasn't about the prejudice exclusively. On some level it was also just a coming of age/high school movie in a way, and the religious issues (and related prejudices) did not always come into it, which they probably wouldn't.

    Still, it makes me think of, I believe it was Ebert's review, that discussed who was at fault on certain counts. Certainly no one debates that the maker of the swastika was a scummy human being, period, but a number of characters accuse David (Fraser) of being a "liar" and suggest that he should have told them before and that sort of thing. There is, to some degree, a point to this; he perhaps should have said something when they first mentioned "jew[ing someone] down"--but that really doesn't change their feelings. In fact, he's completely right if their later actions are any indication--they'd've just written him off and never made friends with him. Even his roommate Reece shows signs that he would have thought differently of him as a person, even if he is one of the more open minded ones.

    And even beyond that; why is he required to declare his religion--as he points out to Reece--when no one else is?
    Is he really lying--even by omission--by not declaring his religion? Does any of us walk in a room and scream, "I'M A JEW/CHRISTIAN/ATHEIST/MUSLIM!"? I mean really now...Admittedly, if it is thoroughly important to him, it shouldn't be so secretive, and he did put away his Star of David necklace before showering at night. Then again, that was done after a goodly number of off colour jokes and such, too.

    I do the same thing, for that matter, in that I generally let everyone make vague comradely statements as if everyone around them shares their beliefs and do not generally feel the need to declare my own unless someone asks or they make disparaging comments about someone else and I wish to prove a point about those of us who are less obvious.

    I don't know; I guess I just feel that there is something wrong here, but it is not up to us to disprove the assumptive folk around, nor is it our fault if they make such assumptions. We shouldn't have to declare our more minority beliefs because they shouldn't be talkin' shit in the first place, whether we're there or not, dammit. (3/5/06)
  • clooneyfan
    February 18, 2007
    clooneyfan
    I like movies about school and Brendan Fraser is cute!
  • HateYouIgnorant
    October 31, 2009
    HateYouIgnorant
    !Comercial or Stupid! :|
  • WingGoddessSora
    October 27, 2009
    WingGoddessSora
    a film that talks about religious prejudices against the Jews happening at an elite school during the 1950s. Brendan Fraser plays the role of David Green as an intelligent, popular quarterback. Life was running smoothly for him until Dillon (Matt Damon), a bitter friend of David ...( read more)Greene told everyone David Greene's a Jew. And that changed everything for him.

    I seldom see Brendan Fraser play a more serious role and I am just taken by him. A courageous film that shows how Jews were discriminated back in the days.
  • nilesburns6flags
    October 6, 2009
    nilesburns6flags
    This was a pretty cool movie....
    Really interesting
    Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser are terrific actors
    Ben Affleck, not so much....
  • kasyopea
    August 18, 2009
    kasyopea
    MI PELICULA FAVORITA DE FRASER, ME ENCANTA!!!
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    In "School Ties," Brendan Fraser plays as David Greene, a Jewish football star who is attending a preparatory boarding school on a football scholarship. The majority of the people take a keen liking to him; he makes a lot of friends and falls in love with a certain girl, so his l...( read more)ife is pretty much going along without hitting any bumps in the road. That is, until some people find out that he's Jewish and start turning against him, mainly Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon). David's life could completely fall apart, or something could happen and he could gain back respect and get back to where he was.
    "School Ties" was a movie that jumpstarted the careers of a few actors who are now big stars, such as Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser. The movie is interesting and it has a lot of upbeat, suspenseful drama, both good and bad during the whole movie. It's one of the best movies of its kind that I've seen, no doubt. It's a realistic movie about prejudice and it's a classic one at that.

    While "School Ties" has a great script, plot, and everything else it needs to succeed, what really pushes it to be the great movie that it is, is Brendan Fraser's superb acting. He does one of his best, if not his best acting job of all time in "School Ties." I really want to give this movie five stars, but I can't. The reason for that is because when the movie ends, it just leaves certain question unanswered. Other than that, this movie is top notch. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000.

View All School Ties Reviews

Critic Reviews

May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Good intentions go for naught as director Robert Mandel (F/X) pounds home every contrivance in the script by Darryl Ponicsan (Taps). full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

School Ties is surprisingly effective. full review

View more School Ties reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "School Ties" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Hairspray
    Hairspray (25%)
  • Spider-Man 3
    Spider-Man 3 (40%)
  • Dead Poets Society
    Dead Poets Society (67%)
  • To Sir, With Love
    To Sir, With Love (50%)

More Movies like School Ties

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

School Ties : Watch Free on TV

School Ties Trivia

  • This Blast from the Past cut his School Ties and 'weased the juice' with Pauly Shore but still ended up With Honors.   Answer »
  • Dogma School Ties Stuck on You  Answer »
  • Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser and Chris O'Donnell play classmates in what movie?  Answer »
  • I was a jew in School Ties, I was an airhead and I was blast from the past... Who I am???  Answer »
More School Ties Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for School Ties. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add School Ties to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?