'The Substitute' Kicked Ass

1996 doesn’t really seem that long ago to me. I remember wearing Airwalks with baggy jeans, coming home from school to eat Raven’s Revenge and watching The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers almost like it was yesterday. But a lot can happen in twenty years. If you were to go back in time and show somebody from the 90s The Avengers or Avatar, they would shit a brick. Our understanding of computers has severely grown, and with it, our ability to create realistic looking yet impossible scenarios within our films. Even though films known for their special effects in the 90s like Independence Day are still a marvel to watch, it’s nowhere near our capabilities now. So, how can a low budget action film from the late 90s hold up from today? Well, if the acting, directing and script are on point, pretty damn well.

The Substitute was basically Tom Berenger and his crew of Raymond Cruz, WIlliam Forsythe, Richard Brooks, and Luis Guzman facing off against Ernie Hudson and J-Lo’s ex Marc Anthony. Berenger and his men screw up a special op in Cuba, and get themselves retired from the Armed Forces. Desperate for work, Tom has to try and keep his men from becoming low-life criminals. When his woman, a teacher at a high school in a low income area, is attacked by the local gang for getting into their business, Berenger decides to forge papers and transplant himself into the school as her substitute to seek revenge and put a stop to the gang’s reign of terror. Hence the title.

Let’s talk acting. Tom Berenger is always great, even when delivering lines written by an imbecile. This movie, not written by an imbecile. His crew is pretty much four of my favorite character actors. William Forsythe, the crack-smoking nutcase from Out for Justice and the small-dicked cop from Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, gets to have fun playing another crazy type, this time in the form of a white trash soldier who lives for the rush of the fight. Any Carlito’s Way fan knows Luis Guzman, a convincing dramatic actor whose many comedic roles are also well deserved. The almost abnormally versatile Raymond Cruz, a.k.a. Tuco from Breaking Bad (and Det. Sanchez from The Closer/Major Crimes) gets the most screen time out of Berenger’s boys, which gets no complaints from me. Richard Brooks, who lawyered it up on the first seasons of Law & Order, is one of those criminally underrated actors in my opinion. Having those guys face off against my favorite Ghostbuster and Marc Anthony, who is a much better actor than I would have ever guessed, is almost a pre-Expendables to me. Plus The Substitute has that crazy guy from The Salton Sea with the chick between his mattresses. He is the ocean, and he doesn’t mean to impose.

Richard Mandel, best known for the film School Ties, which introduced the world to Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O'Donnell, but most important of all, Jarhead 2’s Cole Hauser, is on the top of his game here. The attention to detail in every shot deserves real credit, especially considering this was just a low budget action movie with lead actors whose careers weren’t exactly on the rise. There is a lot going on in every shot, both the character’s showing tidbits of their psychology and motivations as well as the extra’s seeming like they were real people and not extras (80% of the time). When you’re shooting in a crowded school with tons of teenagers, that’s no easy task. The action scenes, while mostly just low budget shoot-outs, are filmed with a tactical understanding of combat. These guys fight like mercenaries, trained in war. Or at least like really good Rainbow Six players. They don’t fight like actors pretending.

Without getting into spoiler territory, I’m just going to say this is one of the most fun scripts of its time. There are lots of characters to focus on, from Berenger’s crew to the baddies they are battling to the kids caught in the middle, but this movie’s pacing keeps you engaged with everyone from beginning to end. The social commentary presented within is just as relevant today as it was then, if not moreso. A classic tale of revenge, redemption, and education, The Substitute most definitely withstands the test of time.