The Perfect Score

The Perfect Score

Infobox Film
name = The Perfect Score


caption = "The Perfect Score" Theatrical Poster
director = Brian Robbins
producer = Donald J. Lee, Jr.
eproducer =
aproducer =
writer = Marc Hyman
Jon Zack
Mark Schwahn
starring = Scarlett Johansson
Erika Christensen
Chris Evans
Darius Miles
Vanessa Angel
Leonardo Nam
Bryan Greenberg
Kyle Labine
Bill Mackenzie
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = January 30, 2004 (US)
runtime = 92 minutes
country = United States
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:284678
imdb_id = 0314498

"The Perfect Score" is a teen comedy film released in 2004 and directed by Brian Robbins. The film stars Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen, Darius Miles and Leonardo Nam.

The film focuses on a group of six high school students whose futures will be jeopardized if they fail the upcoming SAT exam. They conspire together to break into a building and steal the answers to the exam so they can all get perfect scores. The film deals with one's future, morality, individuality and feelings.

The film has similarities to other high school movies, including "The Breakfast Club" and "Dazed and Confused", which are often referenced throughout the film. However, the film was panned by most critics and performed quite poorly at the box office, losing out to the dance film "You Got Served".

Plot

The film revolves around high school student Kyle (Chris Evans), who needs a high score on the SAT to get into his preferred architecture program at Cornell University. He constantly compares himself to his older brother Larry, who is now living above his parents' garage. Kyle's best friend Matty (Bryan Greenberg) wants to get a high score so he can go to the same college as his girlfriend, but he is an underachiever who had previously failed his PSAT. They both believe that the SAT is standing in the way of their futures.

The two boys realize that fellow student Francesca Curtis' (Scarlett Johansson) father owns the building that houses the regional office of ETS, where the answers to the SAT are located. Francesca initially doesn't want to help but changes her mind, saying "what the hell? It sounds like fun" Meanwhile, Kyle falls in love with Anna Ross (Erika Christensen) and tells her about the plan. Matty doesn't like the fact that the second-highest-ranked student in school knows about the plan and has an outburst, right in the presence of stoner Roy (Leonardo Nam), who now wants in on the heist. And finally, Anna tells the school basketball star Desmond Rhodes (Darius Miles), who needs a score of 900 or better to join the basketball team at St. John's University after high school.

An early attempt to break into the ETS offices fails, but the team then devises another plan. On the eve of the exams, Francesca will arrange for Kyle and Matty to have a meeting near the top floor, staying after closing. The other three will wait outside and watch the night guard until Francesca, Kyle and Matty have successfully stolen the answers. The night finally arrives.

The first part of the plan goes well, with Francesca, Kyle and Matty successfully dodging security cameras and the night guard. However, the answers are located on a computer, and only the technical genius Roy can crack the password; he and the other two get in the building and Roy correctly guesses the password after seeing a photograph of the system user. Still, the answers can't be printed, as it requires 3 more user-names; and passwords, so they decide to take the test with their combined knowledge and get the answers. In the early hours of morning, they are finished and have all the answers written down.The night guard ascends the stairs and they try to escape; however, Francesca is left behind and is about to discovered by the guard so Matty purposefully lets the guard see him in order to save Francesca. Everyone else escapes, but each faces a certain confrontation before the exam: Kyle's brother asks him if he's really worse than a thief, Matty is bailed out by Francesca, Anna finds independence, and Desmond's mother convinces Roy to quit drugs.

Just before the SAT testing begins, the group realizes that, although it will get them what they want, They're better off without the answers. Roy grabs the answers and distributes them among the "stoners." After the decision, Matty comments "So we did this whole thing for nothing." Kyle replies "I wouldn't say nothing," as he glances at Anna. Each person gets their desired test score without the answers: Kyle's dream of becoming an architect is still alive by attending Syracuse, Desmond ends up going to St. John's University, Matty becomes an actor, Francesca writes a novel (which is about 6 kids who conspire to steal the answers to the S.A.T.), and Anna decides to travel Europe for awhile before starting college. As for Roy, the narrator of the movie, he becomes a video game developer. He reveals he earned the highest S.A.T. in the county, but that did not exactly offset his 0.0 G.P.A. Thus, under Desmond's mom's guidance, he gets a G.E.D.

Reaction

The film was panned by almost all critics, scoring a 16% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Slant Magazine critic Keith Uhlich called it an "MTV film that extreme right-wing moralists can be proud of, as it posits a quintessentially American world of racial, intellectual, and sexual conformity." [ [http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=962 Slant Magazine - Film Review: The Perfect Score ] ] Many compared the film unfavorably with The Breakfast Club, and many even called it a rip-off. Entertainment Weekly wrote the film off as being "like The Breakfast Club recast as a video game for simpletons." [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,584306_1_0_,00.html The Perfect Score | Movie Review | Entertainment Weekly ] ] Likewise, Roger Ebert awarded the film two stars out of four, calling the film "too palatable. It maintains a tone of light seriousness, and it depends on the caper for too much of its entertainment value." Ebert's review went on to point out that "The Perfect Score" was given a wide release, but that "Better Luck Tomorrow", a teen drama film that received much more acclaim, was given a very limited release. [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040130/REVIEWS/401300305 The Perfect Score | Movie Review| Roger Ebert] ]

The movie opened in 2,208 theaters and grossed $4.8 million [ [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/perfect_score/numbers.php The Perfect Score - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes ] ] , making for a $2,207 per-theater average. Placing fifth over the weekend, the film saw sharp declines in following weeks and ended its domestic run with $10.3 million (Worldwide, it grossed $381,577).

Irish journalists noted its similarity to the critically acclaimed Irish independent film "How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate".

External links

*imdb title|id=0314498|title=The Perfect Score
* [http://www.perfectscoremovie.com/ Official website]

References


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