School Ties

While making this 1992 coming-of-age drama, the young cast must have signed a pact with the devil.  How else would the virtually unknown stars of this little flick about teens, football and anti-Semitism end up as some of Hollywood's hottest commodities?   Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris O'Donnell play students at an elite New England prep school in the 1950s.  The boys have a lot in common... except one of them is trying to keep his Jewish-ness under wraps.  Of course, the truth eventually comes out (doesn't it always?), and chaos erupts on campus.  At face value the concept seems a little dated, but replace Jewish with gay, Muslim or Republican in your mind and you'll appreciate this story about friendship, jealousy and prejudice.