Cheaters is a 2000 American drama television film written and directed by John Stockwell and starring Jeff Daniels, Jena Malone, Blake Heron, Luke Edwards, and Paul Sorvino. It chronicles the true story of the 1994–1995 Steinmetz High School team that cheated in the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). It aired on HBO on May 20, 2000. It was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.
Contents
Plot
In 1995 Chicago, Jolie Fitch is a junior at Steinmetz who enjoys Dr. Jerry Plecki's English class. Dr. Plecki is offered the position of Academic Decathlon coach, a job that all the other teachers consider a waste of time. Dr. Plecki holds an open call for students, but no one shows up. Jolie convinces him that he needs to look for the smarter students and recruit them. He recruits seven students (Darius, Matt, Paul, Dominik, Irwin, Agnieszka, and Jolie). They spend the next few months studying hard for the regional competition.
At regionals, the team faces its biggest competitor, Whitney M. Young, which has won for almost 10 years. As expected, Whitney M. Young wins, and Steinmetz places 5th overall but still qualifies for the state competition. The students are overwhelmed at the prospect of facing Whitney M. Young in the next round, but an opportunity arises when Matt receives a copy of the test. Irwin then brings it to Dr. Plecki, who believes that using the test is the team's best chance of winning.
After some persuasion, all seven members agree to copy the answers on various items (calculators, shoes, a piece of gum, etc.). Dr. Plecki then tells Irwin privately that because he had the lowest scores in the group, he will be out of the state competition; however, he will be guaranteed a spot in nationals. Though Irwin is upset, he agrees to go along with it.