| The Substitute (1996) Cast:Tom Berenger,Ernie Hudson,Marc Anthony,Diane Verona,William Forsythe Tom Berenger stars as a mercenary whogoes undercover as a substitute teacher after his girlfriend is crippled by a group of thugs, Berenger's strong-arm tactics work surprisingly well which gets on the principal's(Hudson) nerves especially since the principal is running drugs in this campily absurd yet enjoyable actioner. Tom Berenger works well and the cast is well seasoned making The Substitute worth watching for fans of the genre. The actionscenes in particular are well staged and it remains thoroughly pleasant and watchable through out without ever getting dull. Sure it's a comicbook actioner with no real plot but with so much mayhem going on and a cast which seems to be having fun with the ridiculous material, fans of the genre won't be complaining. The real flaw in the proceedings is the awful rap soundtrack which grates the nerves with inept vocals and awful beats that just make the soundtrack irritating, minor flaw aside The Substitute is a mostly fun ride in the vein of Class Of 1984.,sure things don't always make sense but the energy level is high and the movie works more then makes the grade.D.Robert Mandel *** |