187 (R) *** (out of ****) Fifteen months after being stabbed by a student in a New York high school, teacher Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to the profession at a Southern California inner-city school a changed man--his passion is not the same as it used to be; his guard is always up. And he soon finds out that while he and the setting have changed, everything is the same as it was in New York--the gangs, the crime, the senseless violence. And Trevor will no longer be anyone's victim. 187 at times threatens to become another inspirational "teacher who makes a difference" film a la Dangerous Minds, but scripter Scott Yagemann (himself a teacher) has a darker agenda. If anything, 187 is about the impossibility of making a difference, at least a wholesale one. Another smart move is to not paint Trevor in the most sympathetic of lights; while he is noble of intention, he at times is certainly not noble in action, making for a refreshingly human educator instead of the saintly Michelle-Pfeiffer-as-Louanne-Johnson types. The film does, however, have a problem at its core, and that is director Kevin Reynolds. Directing an urban drama is a stretch for the one-time Waterworld helmer, and it shows. Apparently bored by the down-to-earth material, he and cinematographer Ericson Core amuse themselves by juicing up the visuals, but the fancy camera work only serves to undermine the grit and reality of the story. Is it really necessary, for example, to have the camera ceaselessly circle two characters having a quiet dinner at home? Or, in a scene where Trevor and fellow teacher Ellen Henry (Kelly Rowan) have a discussion in his classroom, to see the oversized silhouettes of basketball-playing students projected onto the walls behind them? The visual flourishes are not only unnecessary, but pointless--who wants a gritty drama to look pretty? What makes the film work, perhaps better than it has any right to be, is Jackson, who brings a quiet dignity and slow-simmering anger to Trevor that is fascinating. But this is not to say that he isn't vulnerable, and its his emotional rapport with the audience that makes the character of Trevor sympathetic to the audience, even when his actions cross the line. The other actors, such as Rowan, John Heard (as a burnt-out teacher), and Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez (as a delinquent student) are able to hold their own, with the exception of the badly miscast Karina Arroyave in the pivotal role of Rita, Trevor's star pupil. It is her character's duty to deliver the film's key closing speech, and Arroyave can't shed a tear to save her life.
Michael Dequina mrbrown@ucla.edu | mj23@the18thhole.com mrbrown23@juno.com | mrbrown@iname.com | mst3k@digicron.com mj-23@geocities.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com
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