To give you an idea just how humor-challenged "The Perfect Score" is, consider this: It actually contains a parody of the "Matrix" movies, as if that hasn't been done to death.
That's only one unoriginal, uninspired moment in this comedy, but it's far from the only unfunny joke. The only really humorous thing here may be the continued attempts by NBA star Darius Miles to act. At times, you can tell that the Portland Trailblazer forward is simply reading his lines off a TelePrompter or cue cards, that he's never really interacting with his supposedly more professional co-stars.
Unfortunately, even that won't divert your attention long enough from this train wreck, which spends its final 10 or 15 minutes with disingenuous anti-drug and anti-cheating messages.
"The Perfect Score" follows a group of whiny, older-looking high school students who scheme to get their hands on SAT answers in advance. Their reasons for wanting to cheat are varied — ringleader Kyle (Chris Evans) wants to go to architecture school, but his SAT scores won't let him, and his best pal Matt (Bryan Greenberg) wants to go to college to be with his girlfriend.
Deciding they need help, they enlist the aid of some fellow students: Francesca (Scarlett Johansson), who can get them into the building; Stoner Roy (Leonardo Nam), who is surprisingly resourceful; and Desmond (Miles), who has a vehicle and a cell phone.
Their misadventures are thuddingly unfunny, thanks to direction by Brian Robbins, who also made the deadly dull "Varsity Blues."
Of the cast, only Johansson seems to realize how dreadful this is, and her bad-girl character is so woefully underwritten that she can't have any fun with it.
"The Perfect Score" is rated PG-13 for occasional use of strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word), drug content (references and some marijuana use), violence (including the "Matrix" parody), some crude sexual talk and sexual humor, and brief sexual contact. Running time: 93 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com