With Honors (1994)

Convinced his thesis will have him graduate with honors from Harvard University, a stuffy student finds himself at the mercy of a homeless man's demands when he holds the papers hostage.

Director:

Alek Keshishian

Writer:

William Mastrosimone

Stars:

Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Pesci	...	Simon
Brendan Fraser	...	Monty
Moira Kelly	...	Courtney
Patrick Dempsey	...	Everett
Josh Hamilton	...	Jeff
Gore Vidal	...	Pitkannan
Deborah Lake Fortson	...	Homeless Woman
Marshall Hambro	...	Security Guard
Melinda Chilton	...	Helga
Harve Kolzow	...	Harvard Cop
James Deuter	...	Judge
Caroline Gibson	...	Donation Student
M. Lynda Robinson	...	Newspaper Purchaser #1
Richard Auguste	...	Newspaper Purchaser #2
Patricia B. Butcher	...	Librarian

Storyline

Monty is a student, and when his computer crashes, he's left with only a single paper copy of his thesis. Frightened of losing it, he immediately rushes out to photocopy it, only to stumble and drop it down a grate. Searching the basement of the building, he discovers that it has been found by Simon, a squatter. Simon makes a deal with Monty: for every day's accomodation and food that Monty gives him, he will give a page of the thesis in return.

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Plot Keywords:

harvard university | homeless man | college student | friendship | unlikely friendship | 

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Taglines:

If you want a degree go to Harvard. If you want an education go to Simon Wilder.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and brief sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

With Honors

Filming Locations:

Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,328,543, 1 May 1994

Gross USA:

$20,016,254

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,016,254

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spring Creek Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A few years earlier, Brendan Fraser played a prep-school student trying to get into Harvard in the movie School Ties (1992).

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Goofs

When Simon comes downstairs wearing Courtney's robe, he gets a beer out of the fridge and takes the bottle cap off. When Courtney asks him for her robe, and he starts to take it off, the bottle cap is back on.

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Quotes

Everett: My cock is cleaner than your bum.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Bad Girls/The Inkwell/Naked in New York/Brainscan/Surviving the Game (1994)

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Soundtracks

Run Run Run
Written by Steven Turner, Matthew Lukin, Daniel Peters and Mark McLaughlin
Performed by Mudhoney
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records

User Reviews

enjoyable...and what's this about one-dimensional characters?

i'm tough on movies. i'm a critic for my college paper and i don't like alot of films i see. "with honors" impressed me, though.

i have never liked brenden frasier but he fit this part well. i totally bought him as a harvard student bent on graduating with honors. he begins the movie obsessed with his classes, thinking that receiving his "honors" diploma was all that was important in life for him. he spends day and night studying and working on his senior thesis. when joe pesci's character gets his hands on the only copy of the thesis, though, frasier is forced to focus on other things. pesci handles this role very well. he has never looked like mel gibson or kevin costner or whoever the big leading men are and he was a fine choice to play a down-and-out homeless man. he's a great actor who is probably the reason this movie is labeled "comedy." pesci is seen as a pain by frasier and his roommates for a while, as they see him as being a bum and not an equal to themselves. however, through his kind nature and wisdom from living a very difficult life, he earns their respect and makes them realize that some things are more important than graduating college with honors. life is the thing you want to end with honor. to say these were one-dimensional characters is blatantly false. frasier and each of his roommates grow as a result of their relationship with pesci. they change their whole focuses in life and find what is really important: friendship and honor. pesci's character undergoes his own transformation as he goes from an unlikeable, greedy man to an honorable man with good friends who have great admiration for him. Grade: 9 of 10