The Perfect Score

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The Perfect Score
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brian Robbins
Screenplay by	Marc Hyman Jon Zack Mark Schwahn
Story by	Jon Zack Marc Hyman
Produced by	Roger Birnbaum Jonathan Glickman Brian Robbins Michael Tollin
Starring	Erika Christensen Chris Evans Scarlett Johansson Darius Miles
Cinematography	J. Clark Mathis
Edited by	Ned Bastille
Music by	John Murphy
Production companies	MTV Films Spyglass Entertainment Tollin/Robbins
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	January 30, 2004 (2004-01-30) (United States)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$10.9 million[1]

The Perfect Score is a 2004 American teen comedy-heist film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Chris Evans, Erika Christensen, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Darius Miles, and Leonardo Nam.

The film focuses on a group of six New Jersey high school students whose futures will be jeopardized if they fail the upcoming SAT exam. They conspire to break into a regional office of the Lawrence Township, New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), which prepares and distributes the SAT, and steal the answers to the exam, so they can all get perfect scores. The film deals with themes of one's future, morality, individuality, and feelings.

The Perfect Score has similarities to other high school films, including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Dazed and Confused (1993), which are often referenced throughout the film. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $10 million.

Plot

The film revolves around everyman high school student Kyle (Chris Evans), who needs a high score on the SAT to get into the 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 received a low score on his PSAT. They both believe that the SAT is blocking 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 soon reconsiders, saying "What the hell? It sounds like fun." Meanwhile, Kyle becomes attracted to Anna Ross (Erika Christensen), the second-highest ranked student in the school, and tells her about the plan. Anna had bombed a previous SAT and needs a good score to get into Brown University. However, Matty doesn't like the fact that she now knows about the plan and rants, right in front of stoner Roy (Leonardo Nam), who then has to be included in the heist. 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.

An early attempt to break into the ETS offices fails, but the team then devises another plan. On the eve of the exam, 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 plan initially goes well, with Francesca, Kyle, and Matty successfully avoiding 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 into the building, and Roy correctly guesses the password after seeing a photograph of an employee. Still, the answers can't be printed, so the group decides to take the test with their combined knowledge and get the answers that way. In the early hours of morning, they are finished and have all the answers written down.

Just then, the guard comes up the stairs, and they try to escape through the ceiling; however, Francesca is left behind and is about to be discovered, so Matty bravely sacrifices himself to save her. 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 from her parents, and Desmond's mother convinces Roy to quit drugs.

Before the SAT testing begins, the group realizes that, although it will help get them what they want, they would be better off without cheating. Roy grabs the answers and distributes them in the bathroom. After the decision, Matty comments that "this whole thing was for nothing." Kyle replies, "I wouldn't say nothing", as he glances at Anna. Matty and Francesca also share a look, as they have also presumably started a relationship. Each person eventually gets their desired test score without the answers: Kyle's dream of becoming an architect is still alive by attending Syracuse University, Desmond ends up going to St. John's, Matty becomes an actor, Francesca writes a novel (which is about six kids who conspire to steal the answers to the SAT), and Anna decides to travel to Europe for a while before starting college. Roy explains that he earned the highest SAT in the county, and, guided by Desmond's mom, he gets a GED. He then puts his untapped intelligence to use through programming, becoming a successful video game designer.

Cast

The Perfect Score marks the first of nine movies Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson star in together.

• Chris Evans as Kyle
• Erika Christensen as Anna Ross
• Bryan Greenberg as Matty
• Scarlett Johansson as Francesca Curtis
• Darius Miles as Desmond Rhodes
• Leonardo Nam as Roy
• Matthew Lillard as Larry
• Fulvio Cecere as Mr. Curtis
• Vanessa Angel as Anita Donlee
• Lorena Gale as Ms. Proctor
• Tyra Ferrell as Mrs. Rhodes

Production

In February 1998, it was announced Paramount had acquired the project from Caravan Pictures for a low six figures. ^[2]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 109 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website’s critics consensus reads, "Neither funny nor suspenseful, this heist / teen flick also fails to explore its potentially socially relevant premise."^[3] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.^[5]

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."^[6] 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."^[7] 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.^[8]

Box office

The film opened in 2,208 theaters and grossed $4.8 million, making for a $2,207 per-theater average.^[9] Placing fifth over the weekend, the film saw sharp declines in following weeks and ended its domestic run with $10.3 million.^[1]

Soundtrack

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Perfect Score

• The Perfect Score at IMDb
• The Perfect Score at AllMovie
• The Perfect Score film trailer on YouTube