HBO's Cheaters is easily one of the better based-on-a-true-story TV movies ever done.
Jeff Daniels stars as Dr. Jerry Plecki, a teacher in a raucous, urban school who decides to head, for the third year in a row, a bound-to-fail Academic Decathlon team. But one of the students gets a hold of the test, and all decide that the ends justify the means.
Cheaters attitude towards cheating seems to be that it is okay if the odds are stacked against you, taking on an almost fervent pitch. But at its end, we see that perhaps it doesn't say that cheating is good, but the fact that most people have done it at some time in their lives. How many of us have never sneaked a glimpse at notes or used some other less-than-cunning trick to get ahead on a test?
Director Stockwell holds the story together well and gives good pacing to the story, never truly making the film a sermon and instead letting the viewer judge the characters. Jeff Daniels fares well in a touching performance as a cynical teacher, and the entire young cast is a showcase of talent, with two outstanding performances from Jena Malone and Luke Edwards. Newcomer Dov Tiefenbach is also despicably good.
Stockwell's firm handling of the material and his never-wavering direction raises Cheaters a notch above the usual teen drama flick, injecting some nail-biting scenes of suspense into an intelligent, never-condescending film that breaks down to an ethical dilemma. Though Cheaters knows that cheating is frowned upon, it also recognizes it is commonplace now more than ever before.
7 out of 10
Jeff Daniels stars as Dr. Jerry Plecki, a teacher in a raucous, urban school who decides to head, for the third year in a row, a bound-to-fail Academic Decathlon team. But one of the students gets a hold of the test, and all decide that the ends justify the means.
Cheaters attitude towards cheating seems to be that it is okay if the odds are stacked against you, taking on an almost fervent pitch. But at its end, we see that perhaps it doesn't say that cheating is good, but the fact that most people have done it at some time in their lives. How many of us have never sneaked a glimpse at notes or used some other less-than-cunning trick to get ahead on a test?
Director Stockwell holds the story together well and gives good pacing to the story, never truly making the film a sermon and instead letting the viewer judge the characters. Jeff Daniels fares well in a touching performance as a cynical teacher, and the entire young cast is a showcase of talent, with two outstanding performances from Jena Malone and Luke Edwards. Newcomer Dov Tiefenbach is also despicably good.
Stockwell's firm handling of the material and his never-wavering direction raises Cheaters a notch above the usual teen drama flick, injecting some nail-biting scenes of suspense into an intelligent, never-condescending film that breaks down to an ethical dilemma. Though Cheaters knows that cheating is frowned upon, it also recognizes it is commonplace now more than ever before.
7 out of 10