The Bottom Line: Though "The Perfect Score" Showed Promise, It Doesn't get The Perfect Score it needed despite stellar performances from Leonard Nam & Scarlett Johansson. (3.5 out of 5).
The SATs (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is the most critical test of anyone’s young life in high school. The success of your test will guarantee you a chance to go to the best school you can go to but is it really worth it? Well no matter how smart you are, you’re likely to get a mediocre score and if you’re scores are good enough to get the education you desire, then you’re f*cked. “Varsity Blues” director Brian Robbins decided to go into the pressures of the SATs and reveal what morals are willing to be stripped away when it comes to cheating the exams in his teen-heist comedy film “The Perfect Score”.
While not as funny as “Varsity Blues”, “The Perfect Score” raises the questions of what the SATs represent as Robbins examines the film in a more lighthearted, entertaining format. Based on the story by Mark Hyman and John Zack adapted into a script with Mark Schwahn, “The Perfect Score” is Robbins’ most serious work to date although he tries not to be too serious by bringing in some laughs and an ensemble-like feel that he hadn’t done in previous films. While not a great film overall with some generic plot lines and stereotypical characters, “The Perfect Score” does achieve in just being entertaining and smart at the same time. With a cast that led by Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, Leonard Nam, Darius Miles, Erika Christensen, and double-Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, “The Perfect Score” is a good film that just scores in its lighthearted form.
The film begins as a young high school student named Kyle (Chris Evans) who is about to take the SATs but as he is feeling a lot of pressure, he finds himself with a disappointing score of 1020. A score that won’t secure him to go into Cornell, where he wants to learn about architecture and he feels a retest wouldn’t help matters either. Feeling sympathetic towards the disappointing score was Kyle’s buddy Matty (Bryan Greenberg), who was hoping to be accepted into a school in Maryland to be with his girlfriend but doesn’t get in because of his poor SATs score. Making matters worse for Matty, his girlfriend was cheating on him. For Kyle, a great score in the SATs wouldn’t just get him into Cornell but to get away from the loser-slacker lifestyle of his older brother Larry (Matthew Lillard).
One day, Kyle and Matty decide to go the SAT building to find some information but couldn’t get past security and knowing that no matter how hard they study, they wouldn’t do well with the SATs. The two decide to conspire to steal scores from the SATs building but they needed the help of a rich-girl-turned-rebel named Francesca (Scarlett Johansson) for help. Her father works at the building as Francesca admits, isn’t sure if she wants to take part in it but after some convincing, she decides to help them. Things go great until Kyle told Matty that he wanted another person involved, the school’s second-best student Anna (Erika Christensen) since he saw her froze up at the SATs test. Matty doesn’t like the idea as he and Kyle found out a stoner named Roy (Leonard Nam) was listening by accident. Kyle asks Anna if she wanted to be involved but she doesn’t at first until she meets up with the school’s basketball star Desmond (Darius Miles). Desmond felt the SATs were racist since it would prevent from getting him the score he needed to go to St. John’s.
Anna tells Desmond about the caper, as he wanted to make sure his mother (Tyra Ferrell) doesn’t know since she’s been nagging him to get a degree and have him do something other than basketball. Francesca, Roy, Kyle, and Matty get into the building as Kyle found the SATs scores but accidentally shreds them as they decided to work on another plan. Kyle then learns that Anna wants in as well as Desmond as Kyle decides to have a meeting in his family’s garage where Larry lives. Unfortunately, Larry was holding a party as the six try to work on a plan but the different clique roles were giving them trouble to try to make a plan. Finally, they all agreed to plan a heist at night.
Francesca, Kyle, and Matty went into the building to wait for everything at night as they tried to steal the test scores; only problem was the codes that were needed to access through the test. They call in Roy, who was stoned as usual to help, as he, Anna, and Desmond come into the building but as they find the scores, but with certain sacrifices by team members, they wonder if the heist is worth it and what they really want in their future.
While the film isn’t exactly perfect, Robbins does succeed in finding some sort of moral ground about stealing SAT tests while making the heist planning and all sorts of moments entertaining. While the script does have generic moments and is pretty inconsistent in what the film should be presented as? A comedy, satire, teen-heist? That’s the film’s major flaw while Robbins does try to make the film linear without trying to make things boring or seem too serious. It’s obvious the film was made for a commercial teen audience but Robbins does try to make people think about the SATs and what moral standpoint the film has. Another film in that similar context but with a more superior script and direction is John Stockwell’s “Cheaters” which raises the moral values of cheating and in some respects, maybe the SATs are unfair. Robbins does bring in examples of the SATs unfair grading although it doesn’t come quite clear in the end.
The film’s cast plays a very good part to the film although some characters were unnecessary. While Tyra Ferrell is excellent in playing Desmond’s mother, the cameos of Matthew Lillard and Vanessa Angel don’t have any use at all. Angel was merely used as eye-candy in a scene where the stoner Roy is trying to get something while Lillard is playing the goofball again which is putting him in serious danger of typecasting. While the leading roles of the six teens are stereotypical, some of the performances seem to overshadow that while others just play the stereotype and actually pull off a decent performance. In their group moments, each actor brings in a fair amount of chemistry but it doesn’t have the spark of what films like “The Breakfast Club” (that was widely referenced in this movie) had or any of the great ensemble films of Robert Altman and John Sayles. Chris Evans (who was previously seen in the spoof “Not Another Teen Movie”) is fared well as the leader of the gang although his character is rigid in its stereotypical high school pretty-boy role. Bryan Greenberg is pretty good as Evans’ best friend while pulling off a few comedic moments but his character at times is merely underwritten since he’s just trying to steal scores just to be with his girlfriend.
Desmond Miles’ performance as Desmond is probably the most stereotypical character of the film although he does bring in some sympathy to his performance since he knows he’s not the smartest student of class nor likes the idea of teachers letting him pass. Miles actually tries to convey some sympathy and a few funny moments although his character is the most stereotypical. Erika Christensen gives her best performance since Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” despite her clichéd role as the good, perfect girl who goes bad by trying to steal the SATs. She definitely brings in some warmth to her role and a bit of sexiness but after bad films like “Swimfan” and a recent made-for-TV thing for MTV, she definitely needs to make another good performance or else other young actors and actresses will overshadow her. Leonard Nam’s performance as the stoner Roy is the film’s most hilarious as he definitely plays a loser stoner and overshadowing the clichés by just being funny and surprisingly smart without trying to look stupid. Nam is one bright spot in the film’s main cast as he just brings in some funny moments while giving reason why he turns to dope for escapism. The film’s music supervisor (despite an entirely generic soundtrack) definitely does a good job at using “Because I Got High” for Nam’s musical accompaniment.
The film’s best performance without a doubt easily goes to Scarlett Johansson. While her role is nowhere in the league of her recent landmark performances for Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” and Peter Webber’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, it’s one of her more essential performances to date. What people should note is that before those two films that nabbed her 2 Golden Globe nominations is that she filmed “The Perfect Score” right before she made the two films. Timing obviously was the reason for its delay. Johansson definitely acted her way out of the clichéd role of the rich girl turned outcast in a gutsy, smart, sexy performance that really outshined her cast. Johansson easily also had the best lines in the film making fun of everyone while making her own character sympathetic due to the lack of attention from her father. Johansson also seemed comfortable in making fun of herself and her “It Girl” status by actually revealing herself underneath her dress and doing a “Matrix” spoof as Carrie Anne-Moss’ Trinity character that played well to her sexiness.
Although “The Perfect Score” isn’t a perfect film, it’s still a good teen-thriller that channels some nice moments and decent performances led by the amazing talents of Leonard Nam and Scarlett Johansson. Fans who enjoyed Brian Robbins’ work in “Varsity Blues” probably would expect more in the comedy although they might find some aspects of the film they could relate to. For a commercial teen flick, “The Perfect Score” does work although more serious film fans will dislike its generic tone and stereotypical characters. Fans of Scarlett Johansson no doubt will enjoy her performance although this film is one of her weakest in her already growing resume of films. For those who enjoyed her art-house performances of “Lost in Translation” and “Girl with a Pearl Earring” would best wait for the film to come out on DVD. In the end, “The Perfect Score” is film that had it right but doesn’t guarantee any sense of perfection.
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