''The College Admissions Scandal'' is a 2019 TV film that aired on
Lifetime
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as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" feature film. The film is based on the
2019 college admissions bribery scandal
In 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. The investigation into the conspiracy was code named Operation Varsity Blues. The investigation and rela ...
and stars
Penelope Ann Miller,
Mia Kirshner, and
Michael Shanks.
It tells a fictional account of the event that involves two fictional characters.
Premise
Caroline DeVere (
Penelope Ann Miller) and Bethany Slade (
Mia Kirshner) are two wealthy mothers. Caroline is an interior designer and Bethany owns a financial services firm. When they want their teenagers to get into a college, they resort to paying Rick Singer (
Michael Shanks) to get them in.
Cast
*
Penelope Ann Miller as Caroline DeVere
*
Mia Kirshner as Bethany Slade
*
Michael Shanks as Rick Singer
* Sarah Dugdale as Emma Slade
* Sam Duke as Danny DeVere
* Robert Moloney as Jackson DeVere
* Kendra Westwood as Carla Pontrell
Production
On September 5, 2019,
ET Online reported that characters in the film would be depicted by actresses
Mia Kirshner and
Penelope Ann Miller in roles inspired by
Lori Loughlin
Lori Anne Loughlin (; born July 28, 1964) is an American actress. From 1988 to 1995, she played Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'', and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2018). Loughlin ...
's and
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress.
Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...
's involvement in the college admissions matter. Describing her role, Kirshner was quoted saying, "This story is about privilege and corruption and it's about people who don't follow the rules because they think they're above rules... My character (based on Loughlin but named "Bethany" in the film) is so corrupt, greedy, narcissistic, self-centered, and the dialogue is hilarious, so I'm glad that they're able to capture humor about this as well."
Reception
The film premiered with a 719,000 viewers. On
Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored based on reviews. On
Metacritic, the film scored a 57 based on 7 critic reviews.
Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+.
References
External links
*
*
2019 television films
2019 films
Lifetime (TV channel) films
Films set in universities and colleges
Films with screenplays by Stephen Tolkin
Films about academic scandals
Films directed by Adam Salky
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