Lie, cheat and steal! Lie, cheat and steal! Lie, cheat and steal! Lie, cheat and steal!
--Maynard (of Tool)

When my parents were trying to convince me to enroll in the Naval Academy at Annapolis, they had me meet with a representative from the school, who told me that whenever naval cadets were tested in their classes, they were expected to demonstrate more academic knowledge than anyone facing the extraordinarily time-consuming extra-curricular demands of the academy possibly could. "You won't pass unless you cheat," he told me, "so you'd better figure out how to cheat without getting caught."

I didn't go to Annapolis, so I can't vouch for the truth of what he said. He was probably just trying to make life at a military college seem more exciting than it was. I did go to Princeton for graduate school, however. I was there when a student who purchased his senior thesis turned it in without first opening it to remove the receipt that had been included with it. There was an uproar that was allowed to die down before the student was quietly awarded his degree two years later.

Rich people really can get away with anything. Just ask O.J. Simpson if you don't believe me.

Cheaters is an extremely courageous and clearheaded examination of what it takes to succeed in America. It is the story of a group of academic decathletes who attend an underfunded public school in Chicago and demonstrate that they really are willing to do whatever it takes to win.

According to its own press release, the U.S. Academic Decathlon is a competition designed to foster "the skills that work in corporate America." Since corporate America tends to focus on results, it is unsurprising that when presented with an opportunity to cheat, the academic decathletes of Steinmetz High School almost unanimously agree that the question is not whether to cheat, but how best to smuggle the answers into the examination.

The only decathlete who hesitates is the devoutly Catholic Agnieska Maryniarcyzk (Anna Raj), who believes that cheating is wrong. Her reluctance to participate prompts a scathing (if heavy-handed) indictment of American morality by her teacher, Dr. Gerald Plecki (Jeff Daniels), who sees cheating at the decathlon as a form of civil disobedience. He explains that whatever people may be taught about cheating in school, there's a real world out there with burly gun-toting guys who sell you protection whether you need it or not, a world in which creative accounting is essential to the success of most small businesses. He points out that the team that defeated Steinmetz in the first round of competition is from Whitney Young High School, the school which has strangely managed to win the state championship for ten consecutive years. Whitney Young is a well funded public school for the children of parents who know how to manipulate the system, parents who do not hesitate to lie, cheat and steal when it comes to providing their children with the best educational opportunities.

Thanks to a strong script and a thoughtful performance by Daniels, it's no surprise that we're relieved when Agnieska quashes her scruples and agrees to help the team to cheat. But the fun, of course, has only begun. It's easy to cheat; the hard thing to do is to stay quiet about it afterwards.

As rumors of cheating begin to circulate and the press begins to poke its nose into the private lives of the decathletes, we really have a chance to see how effortlessly these young actors find their way into their characters. Some are nervous; some are defiant; some are frighteningly calm as they lie to parents and teachers and journalists.

We get some great comments from the public, including one man on the street who says, "If these guys did cheat and managed to keep it quiet, they're even more talented than I thought. Hey guys, call me! I will hire you in a heartbeat."

More important than the fact that they cheated is what the kids learn about how to thrive in a corporate structure. When you face adversity, you don't crack. Instead, you retain counsel. You take the offensive. You call your accuser a liar. You try to win your case where it counts, in the court of public opinion. As Jolie Fitch (Jena Malone) says, "If you're gonna cheat, cheat smart."

But eventually the truth is discovered. You can't expect the children of blue collar workers in Chicago to manipulate a system designed by the very people who depend on keeping such worker bees in their place. The film doesn't try to teach us that manipulating the system is wrong, only that it's hard and that it takes training and the right connections. When Dr. Plecki's mother (Lenka Peterson) shakes her fist at him and tells him that he ought to know the difference between right and wrong, Plecki smiles the smile of true wisdom and says, "It's not that simple." I had no idea Daniels was talented enough to play a character of such moral sophistication so compellingly. And when the decathletes present their disgraced teacher with a copy of Paradise Lost, we are reminded of how important it is to consider the possibility that it just may be better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.

Are you a parent who fears that your child will simply accept the place that has been assigned to him or her? If you want your kid to escape an oppressive corporate hierarchy, then your best bet is probably to move to Mongolia. But if you want your children to learn how to thrive within that system, then rent this movie for them and let them watch it--alone. Don't watch it with them. Don't discuss it afterwards. Just tell them that America has a dirty little secret that you think it's time they heard. Your kid can learn at the age of fifteen something I didn't discover until I was twenty-five.



Recommended: Yes