''Class Warfare'', also stylized as ''Cla$$ Warfare'', is a 2001 American-Canadian

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

movie directed by

Richard Shepard Richard Shepard (born 1965) is an American film director, film and television director and screenwriter. Biography Shepard was born in New York City, New York (state), New York. Shepard's father was from an Austro-Hungarian-Hungarian Jews, Jewi ...

and starring

Lindsey McKeon Lindsey McKeon is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Marah Lewis on '' Guiding Light'' and Taylor James on ''One Tree Hill''. She previously starred on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' as Katie Peterson from 1996–2000. L ...

Plot

While driving to school, Kristen Marshall, senior

class president A class president, also known as a class representative, is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council. In a grade school, class presidents are generally elected by th ...

of her high school, accidentally hits Richard Ashbury, a socially minded cyclist posting flyers for a food and clothing drive. When Kristen's wealthy parents as well as her boyfriend Jason's wealthy parents go broke, her college dreams are crushed. Kristen and Jason accompany their friend Graham to his father's lake house, where he has also invited Richard. When Richard reads the newspaper and realizes that he is holding a winning lottery ticket, Kristen sees her opportunity and attempts to seduce Richard in the pool but he rejects her. The next day Jason is convinced by Kristen to push Richard off a cliff during a hike but ends up slipping himself, only to be rescued by Richard. A disappointed Kristen kisses Richard during a game of

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...

in order to inspire jealousy in Jason, who punches Richard. The next morning Jason apologizes, then he suggests another hike, during which he pushes Richard off the same cliff. Richard begs for help and Jason offers his belt but once Richard grabs it Jason drops Richard to the ground far below, killing him. Jason searches Richard's body but is unable to find the lottery ticket. Jason returns to the lake house, claiming that it was too slippery from the rain to carry Richard back. That evening Richard struggles back to the house and dies on the floor. Graham demands that they take the body to the police. Kristen offers to drive Richard's body to the police herself but reconsiders and turns around halfway. She manages to find the ticket on Richard's body but is seen by Graham. She explains her situation to Graham, who then realizes that Jason pushed Richard and refuses to help them. Kristen convinces Jason to knock Graham out and beat in his skull with a fire iron. When Graham's girlfriend Amber drives to the lake house and knocks on the door, Kristen sends Jason to drive Richard and Graham off a cliff in a car while she distracts Amber. The next morning Amber convinces them to search for Graham. They find the car wreck and report it to the police. Jason discovers that Kristen has been lying to him about several things, while Amber discovers camcorder tapes of the group discussing the lottery ticket. They break into Amber's house and retrieve the tape, while Amber calls the police. Kristen buys some scratch-off tickets then she and Jason attempt to redeem the ticket, only to be told that it was purchased after the drawing and is not valid. Amber brings a police officer but Jason knocks him out with a tire iron. Jason and Kristen drive after Amber and Kristen throws the new tickets out of the car window before Jason crashes into a gas truck. Kristen's cigarette ignites both vehicles. Amber later watches camcorder video of Richard planning to trick Kristen with his invalid lottery ticket, then scratches off Kristen's new tickets and finds a winning ticket for the grand prize. She conceals this information from her friend Maria.

Cast

as Kristen Marshall * Wade Carpenter as Jason Beckham *

Robin Dunne Robin Dunne (born November 19, 1976) is a Canadian actor who has had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, but is perhaps best known for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the science fiction television series ''Sanctuary''. ...

as Richard Ashbury *

Dave McGowan David McGowan (born 27 April 1981) is an Australian high-performance rowing coach and former representative rower. As a rower he was a junior world champion, competed twice at senior World Rowing Championships for Australia and raced at the At ...

as Graham Jensen *

Kiele Sanchez Kiele Michelle Sanchez ( ; born October 13, 1977) is an American actress who starred in the A&E Network drama '' The Glades''. Previously, she had starred as Anne Sorelli in The WB comedy-drama ''Related'' and as Nikki Fernandez on the main cast ...

as Amber Whidden * Jessica Schreier as Mrs. Marshall * Michael St. John Smith Mr. Marshall * Kevin Mundy as Brad *

Hiro Kanagawa is a Japanese-Canadian actor and playwright based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in numerous high-profile films and television series shot in the Vancouver area, including '' Smallville'', '' Caprica'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Man i ...

as Mr. Tanaka *

Sadie Lawrence Sadie may refer to: People Given name or nickname Women * Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898–1989), first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States and to practice law in Pennsylvania * Sadie Benning (born 1973), American ...

as Amber's Sister *Veena Sood as Maria *

Patricia Idlette Patricia Idlette is an American actress known for her role as Kiffany in Showtime's ''Dead Like Me''. She also appeared in four episodes of '' Battlestar Galactica'' as politician Sarah Porter, and as Melanie Blackstone in the miniseries '' A ...

as Lottery Attendant *

Laurie Murdoch Laurie may refer to: Places * Laurie, Cantal, France, a commune * Laurie, Missouri, United States, a village * Laurie Island, Antarctica Music * Laurie Records, a record label * ''Laurie'' (EP), a 1992 album by Daniel Johnston * "Laurie (Stran ...

as Marcus Wynne *

Brad Loree ''Halloween: Resurrection'' is a 2002 American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, who had also directed '' Halloween II'' in 1981. Larry Brand and Sean Hood devised the screenplay. The film is a direct sequel to '' Halloween H20: Twenty Y ...

as Police Officer * Zook Matthews as Grizzled Trucker * Gerald Scarr as Sheriff

Production

The film was produced by Dogwood Pictures, a division of

Muse Entertainment Enterprises Muse Entertainment is a Canadian producer of films and television programs founded by Michael Prupas in 1998. The company gained press attention in 2011 for their production of the multi- Emmy winning and nominated miniseries '' The Kennedys'' in a ...

, together with the British Columbia Film Commission, Jaffe/Braunstein Films,

Original Film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal ...

, and the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. Stunts were performed by veteran stuntman Alex Green.

Broadcast and reception

The film was first broadcast on

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on Tuesday, June 26, 2001. Laura Fries of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a slickly produced teen thriller about pretty rich people who are willing do anything to stay rich." She went on to praise the film's "impressive production values" as well as its "slick visuals and panoramic scenery." John Maynard of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' listed the film as one of the evening's "TV highlights".

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Richard Shepard 2001 television films 2001 films Films about murder USA Network original films Lottery fraud in fiction Original Film films Works about classism Films directed by Richard Shepard