- Directed by Robert Mandel
- April 19, 1996
After a mission goes bad, a mercenary spends some time in Miami with his girlfriend who is attacked by local thugs.
While not the most sophisticated of films, The Substitute is a very good actioner with a nice balance between intelligent and dumb. It’s a bit over the top and a bit sensational in its presentation but does so without moving into the realm of self-parody.
The story is about a mercenary named Jonathan Shale (Tom Berenger) that works for the US government before finding himself unemployed after a botched raid in Cuba to destroy at a drug lab. Finding himself with nothing to do, he goes to see his occasional girlfriend Jane (Diane Venora) that works at a very tough inner-city school before she gets her knees capped for standing up to the local gang leader Juan Lacas (Marc Anthony). From there it moves into a personal vendetta for him to clean up the school and get back at the gang leader. Yet it does so by A building on B building on C. It does not meander around and string together random sequences until it is time to stop.
I found Tom Berenger an interesting choice as the lead. He’s no Schwarzenegger or Stallone or even a Van Damme (and mercifully he is not Steven Seagal). But he is a manly man. He looks like somebody that will not take crap which is something you need in a film like this. His character has a clear sense of right and wrong as well. He may not look superhuman, but his character looks tough and has brains.
While Lacas makes the whole situation possible, it is corrupt-cop-turned-corrupt-principal Claude Rolle (Ernie Hudson) that is the ultimate issue. He has set up a distribution network using the school. He starts out looking like an official trying to protect his butt as well as that of the school, but his involvement soon becomes clear. Whether or not he suspects anything from Shale at the start is unimportant as he makes it clear that he is the man in charge which is essentially a big hint to the audience.
This is a very much a testosterone driven film. It takes some superficial looks and makes some superficial touches on social topics such as crime in school or the Vietnam War or even the perception that every time an African-American is going to get an office some white guy needs to take him down since Rolle is running for higher office. Despite that it’s definitely about the action and kicking ass.
I know there have been three or four sequels and I have seen one (don’t ask me which) but none contain Tom Berenger. Rather those were headed up by the late Treat Williams which kind of make them their own film series with Williams playing another character doing the same thing that Tom Berenger did. Not that I’m knocking Treat Williams, but I would’ve liked to of seen more The Substitute films starring Tom Berenger. It has enough brains and enough action with the right level of humor that it’s not completely big and dumb. It doesn’t try to aspire to be anything great. It just tries to be entertaining.
Despite having a fantastic finale quite possibly my favorite action moment is the one that begins in the school’s library. I don’t know why that just clicks with me. Perhaps because it uses the line “It’s time to hit the books” and Shale knocks somebody out cold with one. Stupid enough to be funny and cool.
And what would a movie like this be without one or two kids getting their heads on straight and turning their lives around or at least putting them on a better path in the currently are. We get that here. A little cliché but it would be a glaring omission if it were lacking.
The Substitute is a great old-style actioner with a well-executed story. I recommend this one for connoisseurs of fine action movies.
Warren Watched A Movie 