WHEN SCHOOLS BECOME WAR ZONES AND BOTH SIDES START TAKING CASUALTIES, WHAT THEN?

After getting stabbed by a student, L.A. sub teacher Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) relocates and learns that violence is becoming an ever bigger problem in his new school. The writer, himself a teacher, gives a truly dark portrayal of the education system. At first, the film looks like another version of Blackboard Jungle (1955), a serious attempt at discussing violence in schools. But then it deteriorates and becomes a shallow revenge fantasy where the bad students pay in blood. The film’s overlong, to boot.

1997-U.S. 119 min. Color. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Screenplay: Scott Yagemann. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson (Trevor Garfield), John Heard (Dave Childress), Kelly Rowan (Ellen Henry), Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez, Karina Arroyave, Jonah Rooney.

Trivia: 187 is the California penal code for homicide.

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