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Cheaters

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

He helped them to cheat. He taught them to lie. He was the best teacher they ever had.

In a world where winning is everything, cheats are going to prosper.

Based on a 1995 scandal in a Chicago high school, Cheaters is the incredible story of a bunch of students who made national headlines by cheating with the help and guidance of their dedicated teacher. Doctor Gerald Plecki (Jeff Daniels) recruited seven of his best Steinmetz High students to compete in a renowned academic competition that would ensure university futures for the otherwise underprivileged team. For nine years, rival school, Whitney Young High, had won the competition, thanks to better resources and immense school support. Knowing his students to be talented but disadvantaged, Plecki decided to level the playing field and, when the opportunity arose for his team to cheat their war to success, he supported them all the way to the top.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film teen high school cheat true drama cheat

Persons of interest

Jeff Daniels .... Dr Gerard Plecki
Jena Malone .... Jolie Fitch
Paul Sorvino .... Constantine Kiamos
Luke Edwards .... Darius Bettus
Blake Heron .... Matt Kur
Dov Tiefenbach .... Irwin Flickas
Dan Warry-Smith .... Paul Kurgan
Anna Raj .... Agnieska Maryniarczyk
Dominik Podbielski .... Dominik Wesolowski
Ned Eisenberg .... Robert Clifford
Robert Joy .... Larry Minkoff
Lenka Peterson .... Mrs Plecki
Alex Poch-Goldin .... Jerry Marconi
Karen Glave .... Corrine Davis
Marcia Bennett .... Joan Isenberg
Jackie Richardson .... Mrs Fadely
John Stockwell .... Screenwriter
John Stockwell .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Studios and distributors:

Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Secret Agent Acid Thunder

Theatrical report

A true story? Naaaawww. It ain't real. Or if it is, the Holl-e-wood machine has ground it up and spit it out all shiny and new like no-one who was in it would recognise it.

I'm not trying to be cynical, I am being cynical. I can believe that the students cheated, but under no circumstances can I believe that Gerald let them do it. Furthermore, I don't believe that Gerald taught them the answers or that he ever had a copy of the exam.

Here is what I think really happened. After barely scraping through the regional finals the students masterfully cheated their way into the state finals. However, at any given time prior to the exam no copy of the test was seen. I think that they might have had copies of old exams but not the one that they were about to sit.

Apart from that minor quibble, Cheaters is a good movie: fun and exciting. Kinda like Dangerous minds meets Kids under the stairs.

It'd be a good educational film to teach all those would-be cheaters out there in high school land that:

If you have a history of doing badly in exams, don't ace the first test. Work your way up gradually.
You shouldn't put answers on gum, it tastes bad it you want to eat it.
You should get a calculator.

Security censorship classification

M (Low level coarse language)

Surveillance time

102 minutes (1:42 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

DVD rental: 28 February 2001