Substitute (DVD)

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"The Substitute" represents one of the breeds of guilty-pleasures action movies that are rapidly dying out due to current events, not the least of which include the recent strings of school violence and homeland terrorism that have plagued the U.S.
Robert Mandel, who has done various work on numerous television series and directed the memorable 1986 thriller "F/X", holds the reins over what looks to be textbook material for TBS´s Movies for Guys Who Like Movies programming.

Veteran tough-guy Tom Berenger plays Shale, an ex-military man turned mercenary who heads up a rag-tag team of colorful (and under-developed) characters. Shale and his team have just completed a covert operation against a Cuban drug-cartel and soon proceed to compete for business with a slimy white-collar lawyer (Cliff De Young) who is distinguished by his rampant bowel problems. Shale soon learns that the job involves running drugs and decisively backs out of the opportunity despite the objections of his cash-strapped team. The competing mercenary, who apparently has a rivalry with Shale, ends up with the job. Without spoiling the "plot" of the movie, we´ll just say that these events build the foundation for what is later a substantial part of the story.

Diane Venora, who you will remember from "Heat" as Al Pacino´s love interest, plays Shale´s girlfriend Jane Hetzko. Hetzko is a History teacher in what amounts to a Hollywood archetype of an inner city Miami high school (gang fights, contraband, metal detectors, minorities, etc). Naturally, she gets into a run-in with several vicious school gang members led by the ruthless Juan Lacas (who is played menacingly by Latin pop star Marc Anthony). Eventually, this confrontation leads to a sadistic Nancy Kerrigan-style attack that quickly and conveniently puts her out of commission as the incumbent class instructor. Enter Shale, who learns of Hetzko´s plight (after rescuing her from the assailant) and concocts a plot to take over as her substitute teacher in order root out the criminal element at the school.

With the promise of "money on the backend", Shale solicits his team of mercenaries to help him fake his identity and infiltrate the school posing as a highly accredited public-school educator. In the most crowd-pleasing scenes of the movie, Shale does what is expected from a typical vigilante. He violently and mercilessly lays down the law for the insubordinate and obnoxious hoodlums throughout the school ("Shh, no talking in the library.") while at the same time managing to serve as a positive role model for the disadvantaged students who actually want to learn. Shale´s actions come much to the chagrin of the corrupt and shady Principal Claude Rolle, played by Ernie Hudson (who will forever be remembered as Winston Zeddemore, the 4th Ghostbuster).

The audience gets to see plenty of brutal gang intimidation, blatant corruption, drug trafficking, crime lords, and general mischief and mayhem while the story predictably unfolds. One thing that should draw a few laughs is the primary drug-smuggling method that we discover is employed by the criminals. To keep with the action/vigilante theme, there are no shortages of violent beatings, as well as numerous instances where a variety of handguns, automatic weapons, grenades, a rocket launcher, and a bayou boat motor fan (don´t ask) are used as solutions to pesky problems and faceless derelicts.

It is interesting to note that "The Substitute" is filled to the brim with recognizable character actors like William Forsythe, Luis Guzmán, and Raymond Cruz (members of Shale´s mercenary team), as well as Glenn Plummer (who plays the token "good teacher in a bad school") to go along with the already "ensemble" cast. Tom Berenger makes the most of his role and performs like a seasoned old hand, but really doesn´t have much room to expand beyond being an all around ass-kicker with a heart of gold. Berenger, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1986 for his brilliant work in "Platoon", has sadly seen his silver screen career steadily dwindle into a sea of bit parts and leads in B-films. Marc Anthony does a respectable job playing the incorrigible thug in what is his first, and probably last, major film role (at least where the credits don´t list him as "Himself"). Diane Venora, who has done some good work in other films, is given precious little to do in this movie and Ernie Hudson makes an interesting turn as a villain in his performance--once you get past his strong association to Ivan Reitman´s "Ghostbusters" franchise.