The Perfect Score
Directed by: Brian Robbins
Starring: Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Darius Miles, Leonardo Nam
Rated: PG-13 (for language, sexual content, and some drug references)
Parental Notes: Although some parents may worry about the central premise of the film – stealing the answers to the SAT – this is an innocuous teen flick. There is some sexual innuendo and a bit of foul language, but nothing overly objectionable for the teen or pre-teen set. Indeed, this might serve as a good springboard for discussion about standardized testing and its fairness.
It’s a tried and true formula: take half a dozen teenagers of varying class status, ethnicity, and GPA and put them in a situation where they learn useful life lessons and become fast friends. These films are a proverbial dime a dozen, provide few, if any, surprises, and pass gently over the audiences’ retinas only to pass equally gently from their memories. For the most part, these are movies only remembered during nostalgiafests in later decades. They’re not meant to change your life, they’re meant to provide a brief escape from it into a world where everything works out for the best and we all end up living happily ever after, after Learning A Lesson.
“The Perfect Score” is a typical teen flick from its first frame to its last. It’s not at all original, although its subject matter (teens banding together to steal the answers to the SAT) and one of the heroes (a stoner with a brain of gold, so to speak) may cause parents to raise their eyebrows. There’s no real reason for concern – the kids Learn Their Lesson, and by way of a bonus the film has a couple of talented performers and plenty of genuinely funny moments.
The premise is simple: a group of teens afraid that they