atlantismedia Review of The Substitute

The Substitute (1996)

Realistic 90's High School Action without any cheap clichés.

[8/10 · 19 May 2005]

This movie, set in South Florida, incorporates history and realistic action to weave an entertaining story of South Florida crime. Tom Berringer is believable as a mercenary who seeks to find out why his girlfriend is attacked by a high school gang by becoming a substitute teacher. The acting, across the board, is excellent. The school principal, Glenn Plummer, provides a believable ringleader of the school gang with a powerful acting role. Mark Anthony is outstanding as his top henchman and provides one of the best acting jobs of any singing entertainer since Mark Walberg. MA is a natural! The action is never static, the fights are believable in comparison to standard Hollywood fare, the locations are real and the overall dialog and cinematography is outstanding. No cheap tricks like unnecessary explosions or animation matting needed to cement this action in reality. I highly recommend this movie (even on standard TV having to wait through the ads is not a problem). It is entertaining, credible and keeps you hooked to see how they wrap it up. If you like gritty, real, down-to-earth action with high school kids who are more than cardboard characters, this is a movie you'll love. If you're from South Florida, it is a major bonus seeing SF locations although jumping from Fort Lauderdale to Miami stretches the reality of living in this area. Rent it, buy it, love it.