What a great idea: when a gutsy inner-city teacher (Diane Mekori) is attacked by a gang member, her boyfriend, Shale (Tom Berenger) goes in to substitute. What the boisterous class doesn't know is that Shale is a top secret mercenary--though he does quickly make it clear that he'll bend a few rules (and fingers) to ensure peace in the classroom. From this winning premise, the film quickly spirals down into a routine action-explosion thriller as Shale and his cohorts infiltrate the school and discover a deeply entrenched drug ring. As the film methodically works towards its foregone conclusion, you wish that Mekori would hurry up and go back to work. As thrillers go, this is strictly a weak substitute for the real thing. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)
The Substitute
(LIVE, 114 min., R, avail. Aug. 20) Vol. 11, Issue 4
The Substitute
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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