187
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Where are good old-fashioned expulsions when you need them? And why do we have judges who sentence juveniles, who are ready to maim and kill their teachers, to stay in school as a condition of their parole? Most of all, can teachers really be so dedicated that they would risk their lives every day to teach a group of kids whose raison d'etre seems to be the humiliation and torture of their teachers?
These are just a few of the provocative questions the movie 187 shouts at us. Directed by Kevin Reynolds with few subtleties, the film asks all the right questions, but with its BILLY JACK approach it rings false even when making some sense. (The press kit is careful to point out that Reynolds's last film, WATERWORLD, was "an international box-office sensation." Sure. And that other expensive bomb, the Edsel, became a hit with collectors.)
The show has two distinct parts that could have been labeled "scorn" and "revenge." The star of both is the wonderful Samuel L. Jackson from PULP FICTION. He plays a New York City teacher, Trevor Garfield, who was stabbed in the back so many times by a student that Trevor became a kind of national hero. The show is set 15 months later when Trevor starts teaching again as a substitute in a crime-infested area of L.A.
The original script starred a white teacher, but Jackson wanted the part so he could change the focus from race to kids' dealing with an authority figure. Jackson's performance in the film manages to rise above the absurdities of the story. His transformation from idealistic to timid to vengeful has an honesty to it that the rest of the picture never musters.
"Let's go people!" barks the high school guard to the entering students. "Today's a good day to learn." With metal detectors and students who cuss out their teachers wit impunity, the schools in the film should all be named after Franz Kafka. Learning to survive is the only lesson these kids will be required to master. The film's title, 187, is the number of the penal code for murder, which is the teachers' constant fear in the story. Theirs is a job from which they may never return home.
"You're no real teacher, fool," student Benny Chacon ridicules Trevor. "You're just a sub." And this is the mildest insult he hurls at him in class. Most are full of unprintable expletives, but none get Benny in any trouble. Benny, overacted by Lobo Sebastian, has been paroled by the judge to the school, so he figures he can get away with anything.
Among the staff at Trevor's new high school is a gun nut named Dave Childress. Childress, played by John Heard as a pure cliche, has a 357 magnum in his desk at school. He brags about having had sex with one of his students, played by Karina Arroyave as the oversexed, ex-gang member Rita, who secretly wants to be a writer. Childress's purpose in the story is to provide someone for Trevor to put down as a bad teacher.
In the saint category is the angelic blond computer science teacher named Ellen Henry, played with constant fright by Kelly Rowan. Ellen has a dog whom she loves dearly, and if you can't figure out what will happen to it as soon as you see it, then you just flunked Movie Going 101.
Stevie Middleton, the token white in the all ethnic student body, is played by Jonah Rooney. Stevie's rich parents had sent him to the rundown school for unexplained reasons. Maybe it's because he likes being in the local gang.
The principal who, as the teachers point out several times, has never taught thinks of the students as "his clients." When a student comes to his office, he brings in the teacher and tape records it all, reminding them about a student who recently won a half million dollars in a lawsuit.
After an implausible first half, the film loses all credibility in the second. "At some point we have to take responsibility for our actions," explains Trevor. "The system will not protect us." No, we need a teacher vigilante instead.
Filmed by Ericson Core in harsh lighting and sepia toned colors, the movie seems to have the words "important message" emblazoned on every scene. Scott Yagemann's script, while considering admittedly important material, pushes believability to the limits, even if the credits remind us that the film "was written by a teacher." This picture has a message and it wants to beat us over the head with it.
The film ends by lecturing us that 1 in 9 teachers are attacked in our schools and that 95 percent of the attacks are by students. Rather than enlightening, the film leaves the viewers cynical and disgusted. 187 is a disturbing film that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.
187 runs too long at 2:01. It is rated R for profanity, brief nudity, drug usage, and realistic violence. The film is appropriate for teenagers only if they are older and mature since the message is too strong and too easily misconstrued. The show considers important issues, but its presentation is too stridently unrealistic to recommend it. I give it ** for Jackson's performance and for good questions.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: July 24, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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