The Preppie Connection

Sometimes people wonder, why and how kids who have it all, got into trouble. Be it stealing, rampaging or as in this case, dealing with drugs. You can't judge some by the cover or by the appearance. So even rich kids get bored and want to have "fun". Or just do things that they are not allowed to do. And having an adventure, like going to another country and buying drugs there.

This real life story that we get served here, has quite some impact and is also a coming of age story. Even someone who is considered a reasonable kid may go the wrong way/route. In this case, he may say that a girl was the reason, but there is more to it. It is the respect (if you can call it that) he got from it). But is it worth it all? I would say no, but watch and judge for yourself. It's one thing to try something for fun ... it's another thing to dabble in things you cannot comprehend ...

The narrative follows a predictable arc without any insight that would otherwise make it worthwhile for viewers to watch this film. There was nothing provocative or contentious offered by the flat, almost cardboard like characters. It is the kind of shallow, angst filled melodrama found in movies aimed at the young adults segment except the topic of hard drug use by teenagers is anything but because the tragedy is very real.

Derek Oatis is the person whom this movie was based off. He got away with 5 years probation and 5,000 hours of community service for selling hard drugs to teenage boys and girls. Mull over that for a while and then watch a documentary about what happens when young people become addicted to drugs. None of the people associated with the Derek Oatis case (including Derek Oatis himself) suffered any long-term consequences for what they did. They got expelled from school but then went on to lucrative and prestigious careers in law, finance, media and the like. Knowing this, is it really meaningful to make a film about the 'social injustices' of being a poor kid in a rich kid school?

There are other cocaine movies such as Blow, and even one Tom Cruise did. This is not the mind bending ride that those two were. There are also movies about class differences between teenagers in America. This is probably a very good one. Certainly it's well acted and well put together. The drama is very much like that of teen horror movies. If you find teenagers a pain to watch then this won't be for you. How much it is based on fact is a big question. The movie doesn't really answer that. Still, it adds an element of intrigue to a well told story, a story that certainly has some great moments, a clear message and a protagonist most of us will identify with.

While it's not a great movie, it is still interesting and worthwhile. A lot of what gives it value is that is based on a true story, Although there's a lot of looseness from the true story, it seems to capture it the general gist of the story pretty well. Though far from Oscar material, the film was competently made and decently acted.

It's based on the Choate Rosemary Hall drug scandal, which can easily be googled. There's a nice story from by Newsweek around the time the film was released based upon an interview with Derek Oatis, the real-life protagonist. Since the film doesn't really say what happened afterwards, he was sentenced to 5 years of probation and 5,000 hours of community service. At the time of the Newsweek article, he was an attorney practicing civil and criminal law, so it was nice to learn that his life wasn't ruined by this.

I saw The Preppie Connection tonight, and found myself enjoying every bit of it. The fact that it was a true story made it an easy sell for me, but I particularly appreciate that the film makers didn't present anything fantastic or over the top. Instead, you really feel that what you are watching is probably what actually took place, no more, no less. In short, the risk the main character takes in traveling abroad for the purpose of drug trafficking is presented clearly and thoroughly for the viewer, and this serves to make the film engaging.

I've read a review elsewhere that regards the acting in this film as weak. I don't agree at all. I thought the acting was great, the kids were believable, and I especially liked the soundtrack.

To sum up, I probably wouldn't go handing out Oscars to the actors and crew, but in my opinion the film entertains all the way through, and is definitely worthwhile watching.