I've been a huge fan of HBO movies going way back to And the Band Played On. Cheaters isn't quite that level, but isn't far off. A compelling story driven by actors who all nail their roles, and a deliciously subversive tale at that all add up to a story pretty well guaranteed to keep you thinking and talking about it for a long time. What more can you ask from a movie?As great as Daniels and Malone are in this one, I feel the need to point out that I felt all the actors who played the kids in this movie really stole the show. Especially the ones I never heard of before or since. There was talent to spare from this cast, and it's really a damned shame that we haven't seen more of them.If the movie has any flaws, it would be the lower production values that leave you feeling this movie could have rivalled any theater release that year if only the budget had been a tad higher. The movie makes me think a few scenes would have benefitted from a reshoot or a little more sophisticated editing, but they aren't enough to distract. Serious kudos to Director John Stockwell, he putbout a picture any filmmaker could be proud of. Go ahead and try to only watch it once.

It's 1994 in a run-down Chicago public high school. Dr. Gerard Plecki (Jeff Daniels) is the hopeful teacher organizing the Academic Decathlon team. The only student who shows up is the plucky Jolie Fitch (Jena Malone). She helps him recruit a ragtag group of diamonds in the rough. They get fifth and advance to state. However, they also see how far behind they are from the favorites. A couple of kids steal a copy of the state test and the group faces a true dilemma.It's interesting to see the story through the eyes of the cheaters. The characters make convincing arguments but it's also obvious that they are going down the wrong path. This conflicted morality makes this a difficult watch. Jeff Daniels is the senior presence and Jena Malone makes this compelling. The production isn't the highest quality but it works for a TV movie.

I like movies that make me think, not just about contemporary issues, but about ourselves, as human beings. Cheaters is a great movie that does exactly that. The questions it raises are very good ones. Is cheating, even when the deck is stacked against you, wrong, or is it just against the rules? Or as the students in the movie discussed, do two wrongs make a right? Or do two wrongs make it even? Cheaters is a movie about the 1994-95 Steinmetz High School students entering the years academic decathlon, a mammoth competition featuring numerous tests, an interview, and a super quiz. The team that is fielded by their dedicated and respected teacher, Dr Plecki, immediately has three strikes against it: they have no experience, no support from most of the school staff and students, and they're up against the perennial powerhouse and cross-town rival: Whitney Young.The Academic Decathlon, at least in Chicago and the State of Illinois, isn't really a competition, because Whitney Young has been winning for ten straight years. As Dr Plecki (played fabulously by Jeff Daniels) says "they live, breathe, and eat the decathlon...they recruit for it." So, right away, we know this is definitely a long shot because we know what they're up against. So the title is obviously self-explanatory, of course the only chance they have to win is to cheat.Although we know this story would have never been told had they not gotten caught cheating, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. In preparation for the regionals, we see the team really working hard. They fight tooth and nail, but just make it to the state finals, finishing in fifth place. "Jerry, keep it, you didn't know what you were up against" says the Whitney Young coach to Dr Plecki, after both bet money on their teams. We really know these words are heartbreakingly true, and we agree with Dr Plecki when he congratulates the team on a great effort ("I think you guys should be proud of yourselves"). Indeed, the team did very well, considering what they really were up against.This is the point where things heat up, as one of the students manages to get a copy of the state test, and things really start heating up. Dr Plecki, when he gets the news, encourages the team to use the test to study, if they all agree. When they get to the State competition, using planned tricks, quick and private ways of getting signals, they win with a big improvement in their scores from their regional performance. Whitney Young believes, through suspicion, that they did indeed cheat. The logic being that it is statistically impossible for anyone to have their scores increase that dramatically in only three weeks. We, as an audience who can't help but root for the underdogs, find us hoping they don't get caught and those Whitney Young rich spoiled brats get a dose of their own medicine.The performances by the teacher and students are fantastic. Jeff Daniels is a very underrated actor and it's refreshing to see him give such a great one here. He gives the character of Dr Plecki an excellent illustration of anger, confusion, insight, and frustration. The students, especially the one played by Jena Malone (as Jolie Fitch, who, according to the film, helped assemble the team) are just as convincing in their bonding to keep the code of silence. The lawyer for the board of education, who questions them about their cheating in one of the later scenes, said it best: "These kids may be some of the most skilled liars I've ever encountered. They looked me in the eye and lied to me. They scared me." I will not give away the ending, only that it leads to some very good arguments and the "city gripped by 'Did they or didn't they?' fever." Did Dr Plecki do right? Do you sometimes have to break the rules to change them? Would they have questioned Steinmetz if it were a rich, WASP school, as one of the Steinmetz students points out? These are all questions that the film raises, and leaves for the audience to decide.The movie doesn't ask anyone to condone cheating, nor does it say that we should condone it. All the movie does is ask the audience to pay attention, and raise questions. It is fair to both sides. I liked the fact that one thing the movie does make clear is: right, wrong, or indifferent, our society is not fair. It doesn't say that the actions of Dr Plecki and the students are okay, but they're understandable due to the circumstances.I would recommend this film be viewed by all students in their English classes or with their parents. I also believe very strongly that anyone who watches this will be asking themselves questions about the values, morals, and quandaries of today's society. This film is a must see for all students, educators, and parents.

As this movie came to an end I found myself troubled by it. The movie itself was OK - but really no better than that - and the incident upon which it's based is an interesting one from a number of perspectives. It's the story of how the Academic Decathlon Team of Steinmetz High School in Chicago cheated to win the Illinois State Championship, with the knowledge, encouragement and active participation of their teacher and coach, played by Jeff Daniels. It's a classic "ends justifying the means" kind of story. Everyone involved seemed to portray both the cheating and the cover-up as a noble act, necessitated by their belief that the competition was biased in favour of the perennial champs. Steinmetz was a racially diverse, financially challenged inner city school; their rivals a privileged "white bread" sort of school. To everyone involved in the scam this apparently justified the dishonesty.That's what I found troubling here. There was never a moment of contrition; never a point when anyone directly involved said simply "this was wrong." Even the kid who finally blew the whistle did so only out of jealousy - because he wasn't getting to share in the limelight of winning. In the end, everyone involved (teacher and students) seemed to do just fine with few serious consequences (the teacher lost his job but ended up opening his own business while most of the students seem to have successfully gone on to university, their experience with the scam becoming an apparently valuable piece of life experience) which perhaps explains one of the closing captions: 80% of high school students admitted to cheating, while 50% thought cheating was OK. I wonder what that portends for the future? Then at the end we're told that one of the School Board officials who condemned cheating was sent to jail later the same year for tax evasion. The apparent message: everyone does it in their own way.Frankly, it's not a great movie, but it is a troubling one. 5/10