The Substitute (1996)
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A war veteran becomes a substitute teacher to protect his girlfriend from a dangerous gang and a corrupt school system.
The story
After a botched covert operation in Cuba, Vietnam War veteran and mercenary Jonathan Shale returns home to Miami. He finds his girlfriend, Jane Hetzko, is a teacher at Columbus High School, a school plagued by gang issues. When Jane is attacked by the local gang, the
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Jonathan Shale, a war veteran, goes undercover as a substitute teacher at Columbus High School to protect his girlfriend, Jane, after she is attacked by the Kings of Destruction gang. Shale uses his military tactics to gain control of his unruly students and eventually discovers that the school principal, Claude Rolle, is working with the gang to distribute cocaine. After a fellow teacher is killed by Rolle, Shale learns the full extent of the school's involvement in the drug trade. When the gang targets Jane at her apartment, Shale and his mercenary colleagues launch a raid on the school to eliminate the dealers and the corrupt principal. Only Shale and one colleague survive the final confrontation.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 114
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert Mandel
- Writers
- Roy Frumkes · writer; Rocco Simonelli · writer; Alan Ormsby · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Berenger · Jonathan Shale; Ernie Hudson · Claude Rolle; Diane Venora · Jane Hetzko; Marc Anthony; William Forsythe; Luis Guzmán
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- war; education; corruption
- Tone and mood
- action; high camp
- Premise and plot tags
- undercover; mercenary; school_violence
- Franchise connections
- The Substitute
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, with some critics praising the performance of the lead actors and the handling of the premise, while others criticized it as a repetitive action trope.
- Production trivia
- The film was shot at Miami Senior High School.; The soundtrack featured hip hop music and peaked on the Billboard 200.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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