I did not plan for the back-to-back of Au Revoir Les Enfants and School Ties to overlap so much. I knew nothing about the plot of either. I saw Les Enfants because I wanted to check a stuffy European movie off my list and I saw School Ties because I wanted to see just how many familiar actors in medium-to-small roles I could find. I didn't realize that both were mid-20th century dramas about boys at boarding schools dealing with anti-Semitism. In fact. I'd wager these are the only two movies I've seen that fit that description. It was a nice compare/contrast, even if it was accidental.
School Ties plays like a movie that was made in the dying days of the afterschool special that fancies itself an Oscar contender. You see, it's pretty melodramatic and somewhat cheapens the issue. Anti-Semitism isn't great. It doesn't feel quite as severe though when it means that protagonist can only go to most but not all Ivy League schools, is never in any physical danger, and isn't breaking any rules by hiding his Judaism. The climax of the movie is about breaking the school honor code. Not harrowing stuff. This is clearly coming off the success of Dead Poet's Society but is afraid to go as far as that movie. I didn't live in the 1950s, so it's hard for me to say what in the movie is exaggeration and what is accurate to the times. They sure lay it on thick with some of the Jew hate. It feels a little cartoonish at times. Kind of like Saved by the Bell using caffeine pills as a stand-in for hard drugs.
Let's be honest though, I saw this for Baby Affleck and Baby Damon. Affleck is very minor in the movie (which I knew going in). I've come to realize that Good Will Hunting saved Matt Damon from a career of playing little shits. He still does get some of those roles, but not exclusively. This is more dramatic than I'm used to seeing for Brendan Fraser, a least at that age. I feel like he's going to have a more soulful 2nd act in the 2020s, now that he's finally starting to wear some of his age. I tend to forget how old Chris O'Donnell actually is. Like, it feels like he should be younger than Damon and Affleck, not older. I don't think anyone in the cast rose above the material, and it again reminded me why I'm happy to no longer be in a school setting with only boys. A male boarding school just sounds like a nightmare. Also, I'll throw out that Amy Locane was really lovely in this movie until she wasn't.
It's pretty clear why this movie is only remembered for who is in it. Although it's also worth noting that it's the rare writing credit for TV super-producer Dick Wolf (admittedly, less rare at the time). It's an otherwise forgettable movie that repeatedly pulls its punches. The stakes never feel as heightened as the performances. It doesn't use the nostalgia of the era as a trojan horse for deeper topics enough. I'm pretty sure if it cast Skeet Ulrich and David Arquette instead of Affleck and Damon, no one would ever watch this movie again.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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