Dying to Belong (1997)

It is a performances centric movie

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of Hilary Swanks first films, she does a fair job as student Lisa who joins a fraternity in her first year of college. What she doesn't know, is that the members of the fraternity mean girls and the story unwinds after her friend dies during a hazing incident which is propagated by the bad members of the frat. Lisa is torn between keeping fraternity secrets and doing the right thing, by telling investigators what she knows. Her boyfriend (Paul Michael Gossaler) tries to aid her in telling investigators about the activities of the frat, but he runs into problems which prevent him from helping. In the end of course Lisa does the right thing and the girls are implicated, but getting there is an edge of your seat ride, with a lot of predictability.

Better than average made-for-TV drama. Of course there is the obligatory candy coating, but then the subject matter slips into somewhere real dark. College freshmen Lisa(Hilary Swank)and her friend Shelby(Jenna von Oy)have their hearts set on pledging to a sorority; the same Lisa's mother(Isabella Hofmann) pledged. Lisa gets a job with the school paper and meets Steven(Mark-Paul Gosselaar). Lisa and Shelby are asked to perform degrading tasks during "hell week"; Lisa is told of a young woman that disappeared during the pledge hazing week. She sees first hand how that rumor could actually be true. When Shelby falls from a campus clock tower to her death; Lisa and Steve work together to find out the truth behind the "accident" and show how dangerous hazing really is in spite of what college authorities say. Other cast members: Sarah Chalke, Jennifer Warren, Amanda Wilmshurst, Melissa Pace and Michael Flynn.

Yes, I came from my university's greek system, but that isn't the reason I think this made-for-TV flick was total crap. The whole thing is just stupid overall. I can assure you that no men are allowed in the sorority house rooms, aside from the atrium/living room, at any time. Trust me, I was your average college guy who would have LOVED to have seen the rest of the house but it flat out wasn't allowed. Not only that, but the alcohol in the house would have resulted in a chapter shutdown. I've seen it happen and it's not a pretty sight. The glaring stupidity that makes the movie look unrealistic is the ridiculous part where the cops just happen to be waiting for the girl who has marijuana planted in her car. Amazing how sorority girls got the stuff so easily. Not only that, but she is just let off with a warning??!!?!?!?!? What the hell is that? They let off DRUG POSSESSION SUSPECTS with a WARNING?!?!?!?!? Was this flick made in Fantasyland?This was the worst portrayal of college life since Higher Learning. Anyone who recommends watching a stupid made-for-TV movie before "allowing" their college-aged (and therefore legally adult) children to join an organization needs to find a more credible source. This was as much like my college as Saved By the Bell was like my high school.

This movie is ridiculous. The writing is horrible and the story is completely unbelievable. I especially love when the cops just happen to waiting for the girl that has the pot planted in her car. Then, I love how her mother and her are leaving the police station, and the mother says 'good thing they let you off with a warning this time." Oh, yes...I forgot, they always do that when you're arrested for possession. Get real. The girls in this story are fake as well. I mean, the girl that played Becky in the later years of Roseanne, she couldn't act if her life depended on it. Same goes for saved by the bell boy...Mark Paul whatever his name is. He should definitely stick to comedy and nothing else. The worst thing about this movie, besides all the acting, is the fact that it's so terribly fake. Things don't happen the way they did in the movie, and the plot holes were big enough to drive an army of mac trucks thru. 1/10