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Movies / On DVD / The Perfect Score
The Perfect Score

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The Perfect Score (2004)

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Reviews Counted:104

Fresh:17

Rotten:87

Average Rating:3.7/10

Consensus: Neither funny nor suspenseful, this heist / teen flick also fails to explore its potentially socially relevant premise.

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: High school senior Kyle (Chris Evans) gets a major shock when he discovers his SAT score isn't good enough to get him into college as an architecture major. A perfectionist, Kyle's resilient nature... High school senior Kyle (Chris Evans) gets a major shock when he discovers his SAT score isn't good enough to get him into college as an architecture major. A perfectionist, Kyle's resilient nature is sparked when he embroils his best friend Matty (Bryan Greenberg) in a madcap scheme to steal the SATs. The boys soon realize the enormity of the task ahead of them, and recruit an eclectic bunch of willing accomplices to help. Among their group are Francesca (Scarlett Johansson), an anti-authoritarian hipster whose father happens to work in the building where the elusive test scores are kept; Anna (Erica Christensen), an overachiever who flunked the test due to nerves; Desmond (Darius Miles), the school's star basketball player who wants to get into a good college; and Ray (Leonardo Nam), a hapless stoner who is only included in the group after overhearing Kyle and Matty planning the robbery in the school bathroom. Determined not to fail, the students overcome their different backgrounds and manage to work together by planning an SAT heist in meticulous detail. As the harebrained scheme becomes a reality, moments of bonding, hilarity, and a few lessons in life ensue, as well as a sly critique of the tests along race and gender lines. [More]

Starring: Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson

Starring: Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Darius Miles, Leonardo Nam, Tyra Ferrell, Fulvio Cecere, Matthew Lillard, Lorena Gale, Lynda Boyd, Michael Ryan, Robert Clarke, Alfred E. Humphreys

Director: Brian Robbins

Director: Brian Robbins
Screenwriter: Mark Schwahn, Marc Hyman, Jon Zack
Producer: Roger Birnbaum, Jonathan Glickman, Brian Robbins, Mike Tollin
Composer: John Murphy
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for The Perfect Score

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What could, and should, have been as fun and daring as skipping school turns out to be as dull as a two-hour detention.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/16/04
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/19/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/09/04
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/11/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Six New Jersey teenagers conspire to steal the answers to the SAT in this thin, pleasant teenage heist comedy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/29/04
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Succeeds because at its core it is about the very different pressures very different young adults face, and the test that insists on judging them as one and the same.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/29/04
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

Has more on the ball than it might have, including some surprisingly witty dialogue and a vivid sense of the pressure high schoolers feel in the face of all-important standardized tests.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/29/04
Angel Cohn
Angel Cohn
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The cast ... does what it can to keep things lively.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
01/29/04
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Grading on the admittedly weak January curve, it squeaks by with a pass.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
01/29/04
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's smarter and more purposeful than most teen flicks.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/30/04
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

The script ... is chock full of callow teenybopper deep-think about how unfair the SAT is, but it's more interesting for the different ways the students justify their foray into high-tech burglary, and for the way they pull off the heist.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
02/03/04
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Although the comedy is often flat (wow is a Matrix parody dated) and the heist scenes won’t be accused of rivaling Ocean’s Eleven, these characters do resonate.

Full Review Source: Lawrence Journal-World | comment Comment
01/30/04
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

If we were to give The Perfect Score a SAT score, it would be a 1040--it doesn't pass with flying colors, but it bubbles in a few choice moments.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
01/30/04
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com

Scribes Marc Hyman, Mark Schwahn and Jon Zack have crafted a snappy romp about right, wrong, and the teasing in-between.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
01/30/04
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

The work of a filmmaker and team of writers so conscious of their own formulaic crutch that they demand a production that feels like more than the sum of its parts.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
09/16/04
Mark Collette
Mark Collette
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Johansson's nearly deadpan deliveries are looking adaptable to a variety of roles, and the Nam character's stoned demeanor gets laughs in a variety of situations.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
01/29/04
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today

Surprisingly smart, surprisingly wise, predictably funny and yet unpredictable in general, it punctures stereotypes and taps into 17-year-old angst.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
01/30/04
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

(Scarlett) Johansson fashions a memorably acidic personality that fits this material perfectly.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/30/04
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Filmcritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Perfect Score

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