The Perfect Score

"The Perfect Score" aspires to be like a John Hughes film (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc.) but falls short...way short. Telling of six High School seniors who, faced with having to take the SAT's, decide to steal the answers to the test's questions only to have epiphanies go off like flash bulbs as they just sort of realize that crime doesn't pay and careers don't either when one has cheat their way to the top. The result is an awkward and stiff dramedy fusion of cliches and stereotypes sorely lacking in the creativity, imagination, and inspiration which teen flick maestro Hughes brought to his hit films. Passable and forgettable stuff only a teen could love. Adults might want to check out the much more provocative TV flick "Cheaters 2000" instead. (C)

Well, not the ENTIRE reason to see this film... but she was certainly the highlight for me. Why? Frankly because I didn't even know who she was until I saw this film (sad, considering her other work is extremely interesting).

At any rate, the plot is simple; high school students pressured by life decisions plan to steal the S.A.T. (which has various definitions assigned to it throughout the movie). It becomes an elaborate scheme and many people get caught up in it.

Including shinning Erika Christensen (from SWIMFAN and TRAFFIC).

There's the obvious collection of somewhat stereotypical kids (a stoner, a brain, two slackers- one more academically charged than the audience would like to believe).

At any rate, this movie plays well.

I actually loved it!

I supposed it was a bit more personal for me since my PSAT and S.A.T. were HELL!!!!!! And I sunk my teeth depe into a movie that blasted these types of standardized tests and the implications they hold (sexism, racism, placism, all of which are true of standardized tests and the current education system in general, sad to me... and me on the brink of being an English professor).

At any rate, the bottom line is this: You HAVE to admire a movie where one of the "heroes" of the film is a stoner who's so ultra-smart among his peers that he excells past all of them while convincing everyone around him that he's borderline stupid. Only Mtv could produce such a character, or such a film.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

And watch Johansson... She's gonna be a star if her smoldering performance here is any indication! She plays the best goth/metal/rebellious/finger-to-the-system/badgirl I've seen in film today...

I think that this film was missing many things in making it good. It was your average teen film with nothing special. Plot was kind of like that of the movie Cheaters. The movie was borderline R rated. The only pluses were the stoned guy the whole film and Scarlett who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. If you must see this film go into it with no thought and you may actually like it. Or you could just go see it for the only two good things mentioned above.

Of course, this isn't great citizen kane style cinema, but this movie is fun to watch, especially if you are in the target demographic like me. This is a typical teen/college movie, minus the grossness of movies like American pie. If you liked "Better luck tomorrow" (also distributed by MTV films), then I think you will like this one. I have to say that "better luck tomorrow" was a much, much, better teen scam/heist movie, but this one rolls along merrily. The script isn't really well done, but it has a few good jokes, like "If they make it into a movie, I wonder who'll play me...I hope your hung like a horse." Scarlet Johansson is great, as always, even with this auto-pilot acting.(like in eight legged feaks, but tha's what I like about Scarlet. She switches from camp/kitch/crap to great movies without any difficulty) The movie is perfect for when you're way to stressed because of your exams at college, like me today.

The Perfect Score is one of those movies you would expect to be incredibly stupid. The premise is absurd: kids try to steal the answers to the SAT. However, I found myself enjoying this movie. The characters are likable and have good reason to cross the line to cheat on the SAT. I especially enjoy Erika Christenson (who I didn't recognize from her work in Traffic and Swimfam) as the girl who needs a high SAT score to get into Brown University. This movie shows the pressure that high school students have on standardized testing in general. Their grades may be good, but without a good score on this one test makes the difference in what college they can get into. I was not a fan of standardized tests in high school and I do not like them now. I think that dislike of these tests adds to the appeal the movie. I give this movie a 6/10. It is worth 90 minutes of your time.