'Cheats' is supposedly based on the true story of four guys who, out of some 'anti-establishment' sentiment, established quite a sophisticated means of cheating their way through school. If you get the DVD package, you'll be able to see the short documentary, although all (the person who Applebee) are not featured.
The movie is slightly different than the actual story. It's not even Hollywood's child monitor going off to tell kids that cheating is definitely wrong and you're going to get caught, although that Hollywood happy endings of everything working out for everyone in the end probably seemed quite irresistible to the writers.
The story is narrated by an arrogant high school kid named 'Handsome Davis,' who begins his tell by expressing just how much he hates school. But basically, it seems to be any source of authority that aggravates him (as we see with constant battles with his weird father played by Griffin Dunne), and in some respects, his character seems far too obnoxious like say, 'Archie' leader of the Vigils in 'The Chocolate War,' but Handsome smiles and laughs.
Handsome hooks up with Sammy Green (Elden Henson), a friend from kindergarten who befriends Handsome when no one else would. And, coincidentally, they are both linked by their hatred of school.
Enter Victor (Matt Lawrence), the kid who hates everything, who teams up with Sammy and Handsome somewhere down the line, along with the nerdy french fry, Applebee 'The Crib Master' (Martin Starr from 'Freaks and Geeks') who has a knack for writing incredibly small.
They've earned a reputation for themselves around campus as being the slickest cheaters, and can help anyone cheat on anything. By senior year, however, their band of brothers run into many dilemmas, much to the satisfaction of the principal (Mary Tyler Moore), who wants to trip them up and in that Ed Rooney kind of way, wants to finally trap Handsome Davis who has managed to elude her for so long. Though the details are numerous, one thing after another not only tests the boys abilities to cheat on anything, but also their friendship (in the documentary, the writer notes that the characters that Handsome and Victor are based on really hand't spoken to each other since the big 'spilling the beans' until three of the four were reunited for this movie). Cheats is pretty much like any of the cheating themed movies on the shelves today (i.e. Slackers, The Perfect Score, etc), and it's one that's getting pretty tiring.
I didn't like this movies because the characters are far too annoying. Handsome is an incredibly obnoxious character, one that can't be considered a 'hero' of the story since he sold out his friends. But, he seems to be the 'untouchable' arrogant kid (look at the deleted scene when his father asks him why he has a tan on a school day...was the father really the weird character or was Handsome just a ridiculous person?). He's not a very likable character, and for similar reasons, neither is Victor who muscles out everyone and wavers between favoring the cheating schemes and disliking them. Applebee, too, is the incredibly creepy nerd, who finds himself at odds with Victor throughout the movie. Sammy may well be the only one who is an appreciable, not because he went 'soft,' as the other characters claim by disbanding from the group and actually giving study a try, but because he was never shown as being so damn arrogant.
And you know the biggest irony of all? All of these kids complained about grades and homework as these oppressive mechanism and remarked how much they hated school, and in the end, they all wanted to go to college? What a crock. This sure is one stupid movie.
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