Cheats (2002)

This is the third time I've seen "Cheats" on HBO. But this is the first time I've seen it in its entirety. I've missed a couple of minutes during the first two times.

The movie is a teen flick. It's about a group of high schoolers who think of clever ways to cheat their way to graduation. It wasn't the best movie about the said topic because at the end, there was really no values learned. But it was entertaining. It has its funny moments that would led you to think about your own school days. As for me, I have thought about my teaching days. The movie shows the typical bunch of students one has in a class. Of course, there are the cheaters: the clever ones and not so clever ones. With the clever ones, a teacher has a feeling that they've cheated yet can't prove it or determine their ways. With the not so clever ones, they leave out a trail of clues to their cheating ways which were not exactly intentional. Some are so dumb to even copy their classmates names!

Aside from them, who really didn't bug me that much, there are the I-am-so-intelligent-I-know-everything type of students! Those are the ones that get to my nerves. These students are the ones who so eager to get to the top and prove to everyone that they are the best! I've no problem if they are intelligent and get high grades but what I'm ticked about is when they rub it on your face! They are the ones who always have the answers to every teacher's questions. They are very much unaware that they are the only ones who are raising their hands and can't even give the others a chance. They are also so strict about their schedule that if something changes, their whole world falls apart. For them, the only exisiting letter in the alphabet is "I".

There are also the jot-everything-down type of students. They write every detail that the teacher says. As in every detail down to all the periods and exclamation points!

Other types are those I've-no-brain-so-I'll-use-my-charms type. They are the ones who smooth talk every teacher and somehow gets away with being kinda "bobo". However, they are different from those beautiful ones who doesn't have a care in the world. Sure, they can get out of being scolded and humiliated in front of the class, but when it comes to the end, if they fail, they fail! Brain lasts longer than looks!

The majority are the average ones. They are the ones who seldom make an impact on the teachers because there were no special memories about them.

And lastly, the below average ones. No matter what the teacher does, they can't seem to get the lessons inside their heads! Sometimes, during the grading period, they receive a passing grade for their effort.

Anyway, that isn't why I'm hooked on "Cheats". What I can't get enough if is Trevor Fehrman! He is soooo attractive that naming him "Handsome Davies" in the movie is so rightly appropriate! Aside from being so yummy, he is one fine damn actor! I hope that he'd be given lots of projects in the near future.

Cheats, a straight to video release, was from New Line Cinema that also has Matthew Lawrence and Mary Tyler Moore in it.

Video Vista has this to say about the movie, "What is funny is just how clever they think they are and how cheating has turned them into heroes but it is really an addiction which some find easier to shake. It appears as though proper 'grown-up' life is transferred into the teenage environment, they discuss their next scheme playing pool and sitting at a 'soft' bar like gangsters."

Trivia from imdb:

• Many of the events in the story actually happened. Even the scene in which Handsome starts bashing the lockers and ripping off his shirt when Harkin accuses him and his friends of cheating on the test. (Which is my favorite scene in the movie!)
• The real Applebee refused to take part in the documentary based on the actual Cheats, and as such his name had to be censored whenever used.

(more thoughts on the name "Handsome" in "Beautiful Soul")