The Perfect Score
Release Date:
January 30, 2004
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 33/92 |
David Mumpower |
Harmless, well-intentioned fluff. |
| 62/126 |
Kim Hollis |
Much better than I'd been led to believe. Scarlett Johansson might just make any film better. |
A movie for everyone who ever "tested poorly," The Perfect Score is about six teenagers from a variety of backgrounds who join together to plan a heist of the SAT exam. Each of the six has a specific and personal reason as to why they should cheat the system, and they all hope to stack the results to wind up with a better future. As they work together to develop the plan, they get to know each other despite their differences and quickly learn that the perfect score is far from the key to happiness and success.
The cast is made up of a group of actual teens, including Scarlett Johansson, who drew critical raves in 2001 for her performance in Ghost World, and Erika Christensen, probably best-known amongst wider movie audiences as Michael Douglas’ drug-addicted daughter in Traffic. The director has had some experience in directing teen-oriented fare, as he was at the helm of Varsity Blues and Good Burger, not to mention the television series Popular. Beyond that, he’s served as producer of youth-targeted stuff like Big Fat Liar, Summer Catch, and TV programs like Birds of Prey, Smallville, What I Like About You and The Amanda Show. He’s probably even familiar to fans of ‘80s sitcoms as Eric from Head of the Class. He does have a decent touch on the pulse of what younger audiences enjoy, even though it sometimes has limited appeal to people outside of that target demographic.
The story comes from a script by Mark Schwahn, who previously wrote the Whatever It Takes, a modern-day teen update of the Cyrano de Bergerac story. That film crashed and burned at the box office, but in this case, Schwahn and Robbins have two fine young up-and-coming stars heading the cast, which should draw a fair amount of attention. Other members of the cast are recognizable faces even if the names are unfamiliar – Chris Evans was the main male character in Not Another Teen Movie and Darius Miles was recently in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. Since teen films are never easy to predict without seeing the all-important marketing forces at work, it will be easier to determine The Perfect Score’s potential for success as we see trailers and television commercials closer to date of release. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
Comparison films for The Perfect Score |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Varsity Blues |
1/15/99 | 15.92 |
18.97 |
2121 |
7506.00 |
8569.8 |
52.89 |
63.02 |
3.02 |
| Not Another Teen Movie |
12/14/01 | 12.62 |
13.46 |
2365 |
5334.00 |
5475.6 |
37.88 |
40.42 |
3.00 |
| Swimfan |
9/6/02 | 11.33 |
11.77 |
2856 |
3966.00 |
3966.0 |
28.56 |
29.69 |
2.52 |
| Eight Legged Freaks |
7/19/02 | 6.49 |
6.74 |
2530 |
2563.00 |
2563.0 |
17.26 |
17.94 |
2.26 |
| Whatever It Takes |
3/24/00 | 4.10 |
4.58 |
2272 |
1805.00 |
1942.3 |
8.74 |
9.77 |
2.13 |
| Ghost World |
8/17/01 | 0.46 |
0.49 |
54 |
8476.00 |
8701.0 |
6.20 |
6.61 |
10.26 |
|
|
|
|
