The Substitute is a 1996 action-crime-thriller film directed by Robert Mandell and starring Tom Berenger, Marc Anthony, Ernie Hudson, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz, and Luis Guzmán. Corey Wagoner makes a cameo appearance as one of the gang members in the film.

Three television/straight-to-video sequels starring Treat Williams followed the original film: The Substitute 2: School's Out (1998), The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (1999), and The Substitute: Failure is Not an Option (2000).

Plot synopsis

The plot revolves around Shale (Berenger), a mercenary who goes undercover as a high school teacher in Miami to combat a gang. In the beginning of the film Shale comes home from a disastrous mission where three of his men were killed in an operation in Cuba. He arrives in Miami to find out that a knee-cap attack has left his girlfriend Jane Hetzko with a broken leg. Shale decides to play the part of a Harvard-educated substitute teacher and recruit his former soldiers (Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzmán, Richard Brooks, and William Forsythe) in order to find the culprits. While teaching history, Shale crosses paths with "Kings of Destruction" (KOD) gang leader Juan Lacas, played by Latino singer Marc Anthony. Shale realizes that Lacas is responsible for Jane's attack but that is just the tip of the iceberg of his nefarious activities. Shale's team infiltrates the school and sets up military surveillance gear throughout the bathrooms and corridors which lead to the discovery that Lacas is in cahoots with principal Rolle (Ernie Hudson) to use the school buses and their secret stowage compartments as conduits for a heroin distribution ring in the greater Miami area.

Criticism

In an article about films about troubled teens, The AV Club stated "There have been plenty of movies about white people coming into inner-city schools and whipping the students into shape, but nothing quite like The Substitute, which brings the subtly racist, paternalistic elements of those films right to the surface."^[1]

Cast

• Tom Berenger
• Raymond Cruz
• William Forsythe
• Luis Guzmán
• Richard Brooks
• Ana Azcuy
• Diane Venora
• Glenn Plummer
• Sharron Corley
• Vincent Laresca
• Maurice Compte
• Marc Anthony
• Ernie Hudson
• Beau Weaver
• Cliff De Young

References

1. ↑ Jason Heller, Noel Murray, Leonard Pierce, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Scott Tobias. "The kids aren't all right: 17 scare films about the teen menace". The AV Club. July 21, 2008.

External links

fr:The Substitute nl:The Substitute