Movie Review: The Substitute (1996)

As soon as the movie starts, you see a soldier, or a mercenary to be more precise, on an inflatable boat off the Florida Keys taking part on a mission to combat drug dealing in Cuba.

This makes you wonder whether you are watching the right movie or not, since the beginning of the plot seems to have nothing to do with a substitute teacher, but it’s more of an action movie.

You should be patient as everything unfolds before your eyes and all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place with time; it will all be clear in the end, hopefully.

So, it is basically an action movie that also features aspects of daily teaching at a high school in Miami, where a drug gang of students fully controls and runs the place.

The situation at this school is literally a ticking time bomb that finally explodes into havoc, when Tom Berenger, a hardened mercenary, and the main actor of the movie, attempts to put a halt to illegal activities taking place at this educational institution.

Fights between students are on the daily agenda, and there are metal detectors in place when entering the school, as well as other gun detection systems.

In fact, the whole place looks more like a prison than a high school.