Do we ever really know who we can trust? Well the young star in the movie "The Skulls" finds out the hard way. I guess sometimes we want to trust people so bad that we overlook things that are right in front of us.
Joshua Jackson plays Luke McNamara, the star of the varsity crew team at a top Ivy League college. He is just a "townie" who does not come from one of the elite families. He is a top scholar who has had to fight his way to the top for everything that he has wanted. He works in the cafeteria to help pay for things. He is definitely a far cry from the other students who come from very wealthy families.
There are a few things that Luke wants in his life. He wants to get into Harvard Law School, make his friend Chloe(Leslie Bibb)into his girlfriend and become a member of "The Skulls". He feels that most of his goals could be accomplished if he were chosen for membership. He has heard that they will pay for his further schooling. That is music to his ears, because he starts figuring up how much he is going to owe back after he graduates. He gets up to around $150,000, so being accepted into this "elite club" would be wonderful.
They have until midnight of this particular night, if they are not called by that time then they have not been chosen. He is sitting around with his friends Chloe and Will(Hill Harper) the clock is ticking away, but finally at the stroke of midnight; the phone rings. It is an anonymous call, but they tell him to be at the pay phone in a few seconds he makes it down there. He is then instructed to go to another room where he is given some more instructions. They tell him to drink some potion that is on the window sill. He then wakes up in a coffin surrounded by others in a large room. These are the new members of The Skulls.
However, they have to do one feat to prove themselves. They are to steal the python off of another fraternities building. Luke finds himself along with Caleb Mandrake(Paul Walker) at the top of the building. They have jumped over a moat(separating the house) and climbed up to the top of the house. They manage to get the snake, but fall into the water below. They recover from the shock and laugh it off. You know that these two will be bonded in some way.
They make it back to the Skull house and they have one last ritual. They are given a soulmate. Luke and Caleb just happen to be mates and are bonded together by a skull brand. Each member is branded with a skull and are to cover it with their watch.
The head of all of these activities is Litten Mandrake(Craig T. Nelson) who happens to be Caleb's father. His partner is Senator Leverit(William Peterson) they are head of The Skulls. You quickly realize that there is a lot going on between the two of them. They seem to be very competitive and do not really like each other.
Luke finds himself in way over his head pretty quickly. He takes his friend Chloe out to dinner. He tells her to pick the restaurant. He knows that it is not going to be cheap, so he heads to the ATM. He finds that his balance is over $20,000.00. He is in shock and realizes what has happened. Chloe realizes too, but ends up telling him that she wants him to be happy. He has liked her for a long time, but feels that she would never really go for him. She comes from a very wealthy family and he does not really have a family. His friends are all local punks, who have not amounted to much. Luke just really wants to prove himself and become a lawyer someday. He truly believes that The Skulls will help him achieve this.
His best friend Will, however, does not believe this. He has been against it from the beginning. He tries hard to stop Luke and even starts an investigation into The Skulls. He breaks into Caleb's car(each member was given a car) and steals his books and paperwork. He then goes into their "headquarters" and begins taking pictures and recording stuff about the house. He is then confronted by Caleb who wants his stuff back. You do not see what is going on, but next thing you know, Will is found by Luke hanging from his ceiling. A supposed suicide, but Luke suspects different.
Things quickly start changing real fast. One good thing that comes out of this is, Chloe tells Luke that she loves him. The two become caught up in a web of deceit and "who can you trust"? They find themselves caught up in all of this, but Chloe swears that she will stand by Luke no matter what. They come to find out that Litten Mandrake is covering up a lot of secrets. It turns out that even the University Proctor(Chris McDonald) is against him. Luke leans a little towards trusting Senator Leveritt. He seems to be the only one that is not totally against him.
He is bribed by Litten Mandrake with a full paid scholarship to Harvard Law. This is something that he has dreamed about. It really comes down to a matter of morals and honesty. To a boy with nothing this is really everything, but is it really all worth it?
He finally gets a copy of the tape from the camera that was in the room the night that Will and Caleb were arguing. He uncovers some very shocking secrets. He tries to go the police with this, but learns that he can't even trust them. Detective Sparrow(Steve Harris)had been working on the case, but has suddenly turned against him. Some more work of The Skulls. Luke is then taken off to a mental hospital.
I will not reveal any more of the movie, because the end is very exciting and shocking. I think that I have revealed enough, but you really need to see this movie. I guess we don't realize the stuff that goes on behind all of these elite clubs and groups. It is hard when it comes down to having everybody against you. You think that you can trust someone and realize that you really can't trust anybody. A few lucky ones are chosen to be a part, but just how lucky are they really?
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