Anyone remember Tom Berenger ? He was quite a prolific actor in the late 1980s fresh from his success as the bad guy in PLATOON , and was in my humble opinion one of the more convincing tough actors of that era , but for some inexplicable reason soon find himself starring in more and more low budget , low quality projects . Worse he now finds himself playing supporting roles in low budget , low quality straight to video projects
THE SUBSTITUTE was made when Berenger`s career was in free fall and as you`d expect it`s hardly impressive material . Some of my disappointment might be down to how the story plays out , seeing as it`s about a former merc becoming a teacher in an inner city ghetto school in Miami I was expecting something along the lines of DANGEROUS MINDS , but this movie plays out totally different . In many ways it`s like a revenge thriller produced by Cannon from the 1980s with some absolutely ridiculous plot twists and bizarre scenes which is unforgivable because THE SUBSTITUTE is a good film in parts , namely when Mr Smith talks about his experiences in `Nam . This would have worked far , far better as a drama rather than a thriller
THE SUBSTITUTE was made when Berenger`s career was in free fall and as you`d expect it`s hardly impressive material . Some of my disappointment might be down to how the story plays out , seeing as it`s about a former merc becoming a teacher in an inner city ghetto school in Miami I was expecting something along the lines of DANGEROUS MINDS , but this movie plays out totally different . In many ways it`s like a revenge thriller produced by Cannon from the 1980s with some absolutely ridiculous plot twists and bizarre scenes which is unforgivable because THE SUBSTITUTE is a good film in parts , namely when Mr Smith talks about his experiences in `Nam . This would have worked far , far better as a drama rather than a thriller