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School Ties poster

School Ties

year 1992decade 90sdirector Robert Mandel

110 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Brendan Fraser David Greene
Chris O'Donnell Chris Reece
Andrew Lowery Mack McGivern
Matt Damon Charlie Dillon
Randall Batinkoff Rip Van Kelt
Cole Hauser Jack Connors
Amy Locane Sally Wheeler
Peter Donat Headmaster Dr. Bartram
Zeljko Ivanek Cleary
Kevin Tighe Coach McDevitt
Ed Lauter Alan Greene
Michael Higgins Mr. Gierasch
Anthony Rapp McGoo
Ben Affleck Chesty Smith
Peter McRobbie Chaplain
John Cunningham Grayson Dillon
Elizabeth Franz Jane Dillon
Matt Hofherr Grayson Gray Dillon III
Edward Seamon Weezer
Dan Desmond Mr. Wheeler
Claudia Everest Mrs. Wheeler
Leon B. Stevens Tom Keating
Cody Conklin Sarah
Sean Kent Keller
Kent Osborne Emile
Jeff Nichols Donald
James Quinn Boy #1
Ryan Anderson Boy #2
Will Lyman Swanson
William Meisle Winchester headmaster
Susan Johnston Mary Ellen
Gregory Chase Cal Reynolds
Alice Duffy Chaperone
Thomas Rhett Kee Boy in shower
Jane Nichols Swimming coach
Colin F. Lydon Boy in dining room

School Ties | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Juliet Litmanhost Mallory Rubinproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

What’s Aged the Worst?

Casting identity; opening; football staging; prank; slurs; Locane’s later troubles; misleading artwork; Lowery’s career

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:46Read transcript
  • The principal young cast not being Jewish is raised as a potentially dated casting choice despite the Jewish people behind the scenes.
  • The opening montage is considered the weakest section and seems tonally like a war movie.
  • Football editing and staging are criticized, with a wish for more plays, less dancing, and an earlier example of Dillon playing well.
  • The car prank is also placed in aged-worst.
  • The casual racial slurs are jarring to hear, even with the 1955s etting acknowledged.
  • The episode reports Locane being imprisoned after a 2010 DUI manslaughter case, treating it as a sad association.
  • The St. Luke’s uniforms are criticized as looking like an anachronistic modern football league.
  • Streaming artwork promoting Affleck as one of the four principal stars is criticized as misleading about his role.
  • Cutting the first ten minutes is proposed, but the Scranton teammates’ support and farewell with David’s father are defended as useful contrasts with the new school.
  • The lack of a visible Jewish community at home is questioned, while his openness and accepted place among teammates are offered as a defense.
  • The opening fight establishes David’s willingness to brawl, though using his throwing hand is questioned.
  • Lowry’s career is described as fading after Color of Night, which is strongly disliked.
  • The football scenes’ stationary cameras, unclear field geography, and confusing down-and-distance information are criticized.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Honor-code deliberation

In the discussion (46)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:26Read transcript
  • Dillon’s reaction at the bar on learning David is Jewish is praised, with the family discussion about whether blocking is enough singled out.
  • The Smokey Joe’s Cafe dorm-room scene is nominated.
  • Affleck’s unexplained shirtlessness is enjoyed as an attempt to stand out.
  • The dorm scene is considered so exaggerated that an SNL parody would look the same.
  • Fraser’s charisma and presence in the musical gathering establish him as the big man on campus.
  • The song’s Jewish songwriting team is interpreted as early thematic preparation.
  • The dorm gathering captures both easy and awkward youthful bonding.
  • The Ex-Lax sign and McGivern’s bare feet are memorable dorm details.
  • The hi-fi bargaining exposes casual antisemitism and establishes the McGivern–Cleary tension.
  • The first win against Winchester is nominated, with an exaggerated joke about the enormous distance of David’s touchdown pass.
  • David and Dillon talking on the dock is praised as essential bonding, especially Dillon’s admission of envy and the burden of expectations.
  • David’s response to the failed French grade establishes different class expectations without making him unsympathetic.
  • The balance between privilege and genuine suffering is compared with Jaime and Brienne in Game of Thrones.
  • The dock places the two boys physically level and similarly dressed while exposing the class difference that David must earn his opportunities.
  • The St. Luke’s win is nominated, especially David throwing Dillon into a block.
  • Dillon lying on the grass while others celebrate David is a favorite image and imagined modern meme.
  • The postgame cocktail party and Dillon’s reaction to learning David is Jewish are singled out as a powerful setup for the coming confrontation.
  • The shower fight is nominated.
  • Eastern Promises is preferred in the comparison of shower fights.
  • The early question about shower timing is considered conspicuous setup for the later fight.
  • David’s confrontation with his roommate leads into the swastika discovery and cowards sequence.
  • Fraser’s performance and the lights switching on make the cowards sequence memorable.
  • The whole stretch from the St. Luke’s win through cowards is considered impossible to turn away from.
  • Connors admitting his prejudice but judging David a good person and Dillon the cheater is a key moment in the group deliberation.
  • David agreeing to honor the school’s traditions by lying is praised after the vote.
  • The deliberation combines honor-code procedure, ballot disputes, shifting loyalties, and physical confrontations.
  • The full ensemble sharing a room with space to move is praised as especially effective.
  • Unnamed classmates are introduced to help skew the deliberation vote.
  • McGoo accusing Connors briefly misdirects expectations before the expected prejudice reasserts itself.
  • Reece’s defense and Rip’s eventual disclosure provide counterpoints to the prejudice, making the predictable outcome poignant.
  • Rip’s reveal in the headmaster’s chair is praised as a satisfying reversal when David expects expulsion.
  • David telling the headmaster he will use the school to reach Harvard just as it used him for football is praised as a triumphant exit.
  • The final car exchange with Dillon supplies another satisfying ending payoff.
  • David’s final insult is considered too mild; goddamn prick is proposed.
  • Entitled fuckface is another proposed stronger insult.
  • A festering,gaping sore of a person is proposed; the first word is imperfectly transcribed.
  • Son of a bitch and bigoted son of a bitch are proposed.
  • Goddamn bigot or bigot are proposed, with a preference for including goddamn.
  • The Rosh Hashanah exchange is nominated for Fraser’s quiet anger and reply about the meek inheriting the earth.
  • The question about whose tradition was broken is praised as the counterpart to the final headmaster exchange.
  • The recognizable prayer makes the holiday sequence meaningful.
  • The father’s insistence on synagogue attendance makes the holiday sequence feel familiar.
  • David’s private prayer is praised as a personal choice about faith rather than obedience to either family or hostile authority.
  • Two final scene preferences select the deliberation.
  • The St. Luke’s-to-cowards run is selected as the strongest extended stretch.
  • David choosing his Jewish identity is contrasted with Dillon resenting an inherited identity while benefiting from its privilege.

What’s Aged the Best?

Ensemble; boarding-school setting; Damon; costumes; honor code; Scranton; cheating; diners; dances; football boosterism

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:22Read transcript
  • Rip’s shawl-collar sweaters and cardigans are praised.
  • Seeing Damon, Affleck, and Hauser together before Good Will Hunting is praised.
  • 1950s boarding-school movies are endorsed as a genre worth repeatedly revisiting.
  • Damon’s expressions as the privileged racist villain are praised.
  • Cleary’s 1950 MG is admired.
  • The football uniforms’ colors, stripes, and helmets are admired, with a reservation about the body of the uniform.
  • The ancient graduate from the class of 1875 is enjoyed as a link to the Civil War era, while his apparent 98-year-old vigor is questioned.
  • Ed Lauter as David’s father is appreciated as a sports-film presence, with a wish that he attended the major game despite the travel distance.
  • The honor code is praised as an effective dramatic device precisely because it fails under pressure.
  • Scranton remains a legible hometown reference, partly because of The Office.
  • Cheating is praised as a reliable source of conflict and debate.
  • The tweed coats and blazers are admired.
  • The Scranton youths’ James Dean styling and the Rebel Without a Cause marquee are enjoyed.
  • The luncheonette and Skip’s Diner are admired as neighborhood gathering places.
  • Youth dances and the meeting of boys’ and girls’ schools evoke record hops, enforced distance between dancers, and camp memories.
  • Dillon’s fumble, missed tackle, forced block, and despondent expression are considered ideal material for a modern meme.
  • High-school football boosterism and recruiting the player needed to defeat a rival are praised as enduring traditions; David having to work a real job is contrasted with Friday Night Lights.
  • Damon’s villainous performance is praised as an underused side of his screen persona.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Cowards in the rain; chapel procession

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:23Read transcript
  • The rain-soaked cowards scene is one cinematic-shot choice.
  • The first chapel procession across the quad is the competing choice because David’s light trousers stand out against the others’ dark clothing.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:41Read transcript
  • School Ties is retained as the preferred title.
  • Honor Code is proposed and rejected.
  • Star of David is proposed and rejected despite the protagonist’s name.
  • The title’s double meaning is appreciated, though the early borrowed tie seems to imply a later callback that may have been cut.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Cowards overrated; shower omission; cheating minor; Sally etiquette disputed

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:40Read transcript
  • The cowards scene is criticized as too short, rushed, and less informative than its reputation suggests; the challenge and other boys’ refusal to face David are defended as meaningful.
  • The shower confrontation is criticized for omitting a discussion of circumcision in a scene about Jewish identity; the historical assumptions are left unverified.
  • Dillon’s crib-sheet cheating is defended as relatively minor beside his other behavior and understandable under academic pressure.
  • David pursuing Sally after taking Dillon’s quarterback job is criticized as socially inconsiderate; the counterargument stresses that Sally and Dillon are not together and rejects the idea of romantic dibs.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

McGivern; Cleary; history professor

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:11Read transcript
  • McGivern is the preferred overacting choice.
  • Cleary is the other initial overacting candidate.
  • The history professor is another candidate for the rapid-fire quiz and honor speech, with his classroom corgi admired.

Apex Mountain

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:34Read transcript
  • Fraser is rejected in favor of The Mummy.
  • Damon is rejected.
  • Hauser is rejected.
  • Affleck is rejected.
  • Batinkoff receives a yes with Buffy in the same year.
  • Eastern Promises is preferred for naked shower fights.
  • Movies about casual antisemitism are considered high on the list, with Swing Kids as a companion comparison.
  • Locane is described as both at an Apex and a low point because of her later firing from Melrose Place and declining career.
  • Dead Poets Society is preferred for New England boarding-school movies.
  • French class is rejected as an Apex.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

All-Black version; television adaptation; Rip presidential sequel; Connors at Yellowstone

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:39Read transcript
  • An all-Black version is enthusiastically supported.
  • A television adaptation would start in eleventh grade and retain David’s secret throughout the first season, developing football, friendship, and romance.
  • A sequel with Rip running for president against Reagan in 1984 is proposed, relying on his moral character and cardigans.
  • Another sequel would follow Connors to the Yellowstone ranch.

Just One Oscar

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:35Read transcript
  • Damon receives two explicit Oscar choices.
  • O’Donnell is praised as a hypothetical second supporting winner.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Crib sheet; pennant; Band-Aid box and Star of David; helmet; Rip’s sweater

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:35Read transcript
  • David’s number 42 jersey is offered and rejected.
  • Dillon’s crib sheet is a memorabilia choice.
  • The large St. Matthew’s pennant is another memorabilia choice.
  • The Band-Aid box is selected as an iconic hiding spot for secrets.
  • The concealed Star of David is also explicitly desired with the box.
  • David’s football helmet is selected.
  • Rip’s deliberation sweater is the same response’s second choice.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Question prejudice; use those who use you; protect the crib sheet

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:27Read transcript
  • Keeping better control of a crib sheet is offered as a joking lesson about cheating.
  • Examining one’s own prejudice and judging an individual rather than assuming group stereotypes is the substantive lesson.
  • David’s responses to the headmaster support the lesson of using those who try to use you.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:50Read transcript
  • Damon receives an explicit final choice for his villain performance and long-term perspective; repeated name statements are part of the same choice.
  • Fraser is selected for carrying the film and making David’s physical presence and controlled anger credible.
  • A separate explicit Fraser choice praises the performance’s subtlety and range.
  • The casting team, including Pat McCorkle, receives an additional commendation for assembling actors whose later careers renewed the film’s appeal.
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