One Eight Seven

Plot synopsis:
Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is an African American high school science teacher at Roosevelt Whitney High School, a high school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Dennis Broadway (Method Man), a gangster student to whom he had given a failing grade threatens to murder him, writing the number 187 (the California police code for homicide) on every page in a textbook. The administration ignores the threat, and Dennis ambushes Garfield in the hallway, stabbing him in the back and side abdominal area multiple times with a shiv.
Fifteen months after surviving, Garfield, now a substitute teacher, has relocated to John Quincy Adams High School in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, but trouble starts again when he substitutes an unruly class of rejects, including a Chicano tag crew by the name of "Kappin' Off Suckers" (K.O.S.). Their leader, Benito "Benny" Chacón (Lobo Sebastian), a felon attending high school as a condition of probation, makes it clear to Garfield that there will be no mutual respect.
The tension mounts when a fellow teacher, Ellen Henry (Kelly Rowan), confides that Benny has threatened her life, an action against which the administration of the school refuses to take action, fearing legal threats. After Benny murders a rival tagger in cold blood, he disappears, and Benny's unstable tag partner, César Sanchez (Clifton Collins Jr.), takes over as leader. When César steals Garfield's family heirloom watch, the principal is more concerned about a lawsuit and refuses to take action. Ellen and Garfield develop a close friendship that approaches the beginnings of a relationship, but is stymied by Garfield's destabilizing behavior and his confrontations with the K.O.S.. Garfield's past garners the unwanted admiration of Dave Childress (John Heard), an alcoholic history teacher who carries guns at the school.
The conflict between Garfield and the K.O.S. escalates with the killing of Jack, Ellen's dog. César, after spraying cartoon graffiti depicting a dead dog, is shot with a syringe filled with morphine attached to the end of an arrow. He passes out, and wakes up to find one of his fingers cut off. César recovers the finger and it is reattached, with the letters "R U DUN" ("are you done?") tattooed as a warning.
A student Garfield has tutored, Rita Martínez (Karina Arroyave), a Chicana, faces abuse from both the K.O.S. and Childress, and drops out. The school administration is mired in bureaucracy and unable to intervene. After Benny is found dead in the Los Angeles River, apparently of a drug overdose, it is revealed that Garfield took matters into his own hands, killing Benny and severing César's finger. Garfield lets Ellen leave as she disavows his actions.
The K.O.S. plan to murder Garfield. At Garfield's house, the gang forces Garfield into a contest of Russian roulette with César. The latter's resolve is shaken as Garfield talks about the lost-cause lifestyle he has led. Hesitating at his turn, César watches as Garfield, offering to take his turn for him, takes the revolver and shoots himself in the head. Driven by his sense of honor and ignoring the protests of his horrified friends, César insists on taking his rightful turn and ends up killing himself .
On graduation day, Rita, who completes her studies along with former K.O.S. member Stevie Littleton (Jonah Rooney), offers a tribute to Garfield by reading an essay about him. The essay incorporates the theme of the Pyrrhic victory and Ellen leaves the school.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Kevin Reynolds' 187, although billed as another "straight-laced-teacher-turns-troubled-urban-highschool-teens-into-well-rounded-individuals" movie, goes above and beyond this tired premise.
The student as well as the faculty roles are all given unique personalities, backgrounds, and adequate motivation for their actions, which is a refreshing departure from the typical "the reason they're bad kids is because they grew up in the 'hood"-style characterizations.Although a few of the supporting performances are somewhat stilted (mainly because they are overshadowed by Jackson's excellence), the highly original story is clever enough keep anyone's interest piqued until the heartrending (although arguably contrived) ending.
Kevin Reynolds, the director of "One Eighty Seven", a film written by Scott Yagermann, supposedly a teacher himself, shows he is a man that clearly understands today's problems in the inner city schools.Some of the children, of mostly immigrant parents, are lured to join gangs in order to survive the hostile environment.
Instead of making something out of themselves, they create their own problems and will end up doing menial work, or in jail because of the choices they make.This is the basic premise to this story, in which, a decent man and an excellent teacher, is stabbed at the beginning of the film, and not only is his body injured, but also his spirit.
If Trevor Garfield thought he had it bad in New York, he is not prepared for a school system in California that seems to be a disgrace.This particular school, where Trevor is hired as a substitute teacher, has some of the most dangerous teen agers of the city.
Karina Arroyoave is seen as Rita."One Eighty Seven" is an eye opener about why some students aren't learning in school and a tribute to the teachers that are trying to educate them in spite of the horrors in the classroom..
Jackson is not only one of the coolest guys alive, he´s also a great character actor what this film shows very impressively.
I don´t know how bad the circumstances at some American schools really are, but I think "187" is much more realistic than liars like "Dangerous Minds".
The "Deer Hunter"-like showdown and the desperate speech of Rita at the end will keep you sitting on the chair, left deep impressed and considering, while the whole film is already over for a long time.
Samuel Jackson portrays all the levels of emotions and we get behind his crusade to clean up the useless waste of human flesh.A jewel in this movie is the performance of Clifton Collins as Cesar Sanchez.
This great movie makes us thinking how to manage school problems and violence in the family or in our society.
It makes you feel like you are there.Some of it definitely plays like an after school special, but most of the plot here is gritty and believable...this is no "Class of 1984." Awesome soundtrack with lots of good Massive Attack too.7 out of 10, kids..
A dedicated High School Science Teacher get's brutally assaulted in New York,, 15 months later he moves on to L.A. and decides to give it another try to teach again,, and again he falls into teaching in the ghetto, he doesn't even get to be in a classroom with air conditioning,, he get's a trashy dump bungalow, there he meets a couple of teachers who are on his side,, one he get's involved with romantically and tries to help,, the other turns out to be a gun loving psycho.
This movie offers good insight into the culture of violence that is prevalent in cities like Los Angeles, especially its eastern part.
Samuel Jackson plays a teacher who survived a brutal stabbing in a NY school and moves to L.A. in order to start again in a new place, trying to get away from the traumatic memories connected to his old working place.
Jackson's Trevor Garfield is a traumatised veteran who gets pushed too far by the school bullies and starts bullying back, in his own way.
It must also be mentioned that TV shows have overdone this genre to the point of dumbed down numbness.Unless experienced, the difficulty in reaching and educating in the big city schools today can only be imagined, and fiction usually results in flights of fancy.The students and educators are presented here without much hyperbolic drama, although some encounters are heavy handed but the situations seem real.
In my opinion this movie gave a very good view on what some high school are really like in today's world.
Both Samuel L Jackson and John Heard did great acting through the entie film.
There is a war going on between teachers and students as Jackson tries to bring order to a school full of gang members, killers and rapists.
A powerful story about urban violence and how it can affect inner city schools, this is an excellent little film.
The reliable Jackson puts in an excellent performance as the bitter teacher who has been driven to the edge.The rest of the cast do their jobs well, especially the actors playing the loathsome pupils.
What I liked best about this film was the surprising ending, which sees Jackson and his adversaries playing Russian Roulette round a table.
He plays a teacher who's finally pushed, beyond breaking point, by a trio of homeboys, at the new L.A high school he's attended, after surviving a knifing, by a disgruntled and failing homeboy, Jackson's character, before this, as a more brighter, cheerier teacher.
This realistic movie, gets a proper grip on the teachers situation, as to what these poor souls endure, like living in fear, subjecting to taunts, threats and ridicule, where others are driven into madness, like the John Heard character.
The performances excel, like Heard, Rowan, and the versatile Tony Plana, as the headmaster at Jackson's new school.
Teacher Trevor Garfield survives a stabbing by a student, moving from New York to Los Angeles, with a different perspective on life, he resumes teaching as a substitute.
But Trevor finds that the same old problems still persist, only now he's going to do things his way......One Eight Seven, directed by Kevin Reynolds {The Count of Monte Cristo} and starring as its lead, Samuel L.
It's basically set in a super hard core school, where Jackson is a teacher.The drama is nonstop and the plot line isn't boring and predictable like most movies of the genre.
It's not overly feel good like many teacher type movies but it keeps you watching.
While things gets out of hand for his sake.Directed by Kevin Reynolds (The Count of Monte Cristo "2002", Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves, Waterworld) made an fascinating drama with intense performances by Jackson and Gonzalez (Now credited as Clifton Collins Jr.).
In fairness I think there's inevitable bias from seeing this movie in 2018 as opposed to 1997 when it was released because I kept expecting Samuel L Jackson to either turn into Nick Fury.
Or for that matter Jules from Pulp Fiction which by 2018 I must have seen at least 20 times and so I was waiting for him to turn around to the unruly class and say "I don't remember asking you a goddamn thing!" as well as when he's having a discussion about the bible with someone say "Well there's this passage I've got memorized, it sorta fits the occasion." I guess what I'm saying is that by 2018 Samuel L Jackson has played such iconic roles that its hard to see him as anything else, at least for me and this probably detracted from me being able to fully immerse myself in this movie..
As the movie opens, Garfield is teaching at a troubled school in Brooklyn, and ends up getting knifed by a student he was going to fail.
One thing that threw me was that it suffered from what most "high school" movies suffer from - actors who just look too old for the part.
Jackson is the over conscious teacher Garfield, who tries to make the lessons interesting and funny for the students, until one day he suffers an attack, which brings him to near death, and from that day on things change drastically for him.
But, if you wanna watch another movie about schools and teachers and students that act crazy and violent, then go watch this, you just might enjoy it..
Jackson, Clifton Collins, or John Heard, or the brilliant cinematography, this movie was able to not only keep my attention but leave me amazed by the end.
this may not be a pulp fiction type jackson film, but, i really enjoyed this movie.
this film follows  Jackson as garfield, a man who is  critically injured in a  new york school, and decides to move and work in a dangerous, unsafe school environment in los angeles.
i thought the female  student, that found jackson's character, garfield  attractive was very good in this movie too.
On the one hand, this movie gained a lot by the sheer presence of Samuel.L.Jackson but, on the other hand, the community of the students was represented in a perfect way.
This film addresses real life struggles of teachers in problem schools.
We need more films showing a realistic portrayal of the problems facing certain American schools, because movies like "Dangerous Minds" sure as hell don't do the job.One final thing I would like to say is that 187 brings up some very good questions such as what makes a good teacher turn bad.
The best line of the entire movie is when Garfield screams with sincerity, "I was a teacher, I wanted to help you" near the end of the film.
You could say a 'darker' and 'pessimistic' Dangerous Minds.The only thing that I think spoilt it for me was the ending, where the film tries to say that everything was not lost, a bit too Hollywood for me.If this is half the truth about inner city US schools, then it's really a scary place.
This film is a good eye opener about what some schools are like and how many teachers are treated..
We see the teacher who is broken after so many years and just goes through the system, angrily, giving little attention to the students (John Heard's awesome performance), and finally, Jackson's character, who is forced to choose which direction to take.
While I was watching this movie i couldnt help but think i'd seen it somewhere else before, then, when the scene came on with the guy sending the teacher the e-mail "teacher fu*** ni**ers" I then knew that it had been on tv before.But lets reviewOne Eight Seven is a great movie with very few flaws, the acting is excellent, the plot is superb.
9/10good points: actors, actresses, plot bad points: can get a little boringif you like this movie i recommend: Whiteboyz, The Wood, High School High.
My personal thoughts about the movie are:In the streets there's a lot of hated and jealousy and also there are things that are going on like, students killing their teachers .
187 is unquestionably like dangerous minds but d minds was just a fantasy about a teacher that comes out of no where and makes a difference but 187 shows the realisation of a world like that the grittiness and violence and doesn't have a happy ending.
While teacher Trevor Garfield (Jackson) takes the law into his own hand, the rest of the school is becoming stronger..
It has a realistic story line, solid acting (like always) by Sammy, great visual feel, and most importantly, I starred in the movie.
I couldn't imagine if any of the teachers I had in high school had to teach under such stress and anxiety.In a nutshell, "187" is an excellent film, hands down.
That movie shows that Jackson is a brilliant actor for all kinds of movies.Trevor Garfield (Samuel) is a teacher in high school in L.A. He quits after being atacked be his "pupil" and becomes a substitute.
Samuel meets a woman, she is a teacher in that school and she's got a problem with one of her students - Benny Chacon.
The movie itself is good and at least a 3 star effort with great acting and all but the real element of the film is its photography and soundtrack.
I won't write down with many words here what Ebert and Berardinelli described very precisely: this is a movie that could have been great, if it wouldn't be for the last third.Check out their reviews, they took the words right out of my mouth.I liked Jackson very much, and the music was good.Being a teacher myself I was interested in how he was dealing with the situation, if there would be some kind of message for teachers and/or the kids.Well, unfortunately there was none.So I can't really recommend this film, though I liked the first half very much..
"187" is all about Jackson as a teacher who is driven to taking matters into his own hands when confronted by a class full of gangbangers in an L.A. high school.
The film offers good stylistics and Jackson does a stand up job given the stupid character he has to play.
Jackson adds another great charecther to us in his film history,but also gives a scary performance showing what will happen when a good person goes bad in a good way.
It's central points about lack of protection for teachers in dangerous classes and schools that are out of control are well made and well served by a good thriller/drama storyline.I suspect many will feel it went too far and is a bit unrealistic but if we take the character of Garfield as an extension of the frustrations and feelings of teachers Yagemann has encountered over his years then it makes a bit more sense.
Heard is OK but really Jackson carries the film and he does it well.Overall this is a good movie that takes a different look at inner-city high schools.
Samuel L Jackson does an extremely good job as Trevor Garfield, a teacher who loses his will to teach, and eventually gets his own back.
Jackson plays Trevor Garfield, a New York teacher who possesses a great passion for his job.
So, when Garfield is terrorized by the gang, he is forced to play by his own rules.Jackson is quite good, but even his performance alone can't save this uneven film.
But what should have ended as a halfway thought-provoking film fails miserably with a script and dialogue so paper thin you could shred it and horrible acting throughout from just about everyone except Samuel Jackson and John Heard.
Watching this movie makes me wonder if I really want to keep going.Teaching in the inner city is a dangerous profession.
If you enjoy watching a movie that features awful production design, a lousy soundtrack, the tiresome inner-city-teacher-versus-the-tough-students plot, cruelty to animals, and young Mexicans in stereotyped (as usual) roles, then this dud's for you.The only thing I liked was the ending, because it does contain an interesting swerve...and it also meant this junk was over.Pretty much all the inner-city school films are bad, but "187" is easily the Hindenburg of the genre.
I thought this movie had a great story with a great cast and a great point to make.I like comparing this movie to "Dangerous Minds" because these films are very similar and very different at the same time.
Jackson's character tries to "reach" the students, but the bulk of them refuse to be "reached" despite his best attempts to help them.Anyhow, I thought the movie was excellent, and I would definitely recommend seeing this film.
Jackson was great in his role as a hardened teacher who wanted to do nothing but teach.
I liked this film particularly because it shows what kind of bad things can happen to a good person.
"Which end is up" is, I suppose, a subjective thing.)What makes this a good movie is it's subtlety and ambiguity.
It just seems that the `wrong doer' (whether student or teacher) is often more successful at twisting things in their own favor because they do it so much and have the practice that `on the level people' lack.One does not necessarily need to look at New York City, LA or even any metropolis schools to see similar situations.
Samuel Jackson portrays realistically a substitute teacher named Trevor Garfield who had good intentions in going into teaching but in the process was pushed too far.
In the end this story proves to be a tragedy, which may be necessary to make the audience think about what's wrong with the school system as portrayed in this film.
This story about a teacher challenged in a school full of dangerous and bored delinquents is set in Los Angeles, which is fast becoming for urban misery what New York was twenty years ago.
Jackson stars in this movie about a teacher that becomes disillusioned by the system.
The things that I find a turn-off in these kind of movies, such as Dangerous Minds, The Substitute series, etc., are the 30 year old actors they get to play high school students.
The final scenes are quite dramatic and extremely well played with powerful acting by both Jackson and the gang members.Ultimately, however, it is a depressing film (are American Schools really like that?
Jackson plays teacher Trevor Garfield in a rough NYC high school.
I have seen a lot of films similar to this from Stand and Deliver to Substitute to Dangerous Minds, but this one was pretty good and I liked it.A New York teacher is stabbed by a gang member because he failed him, so he relocates to L.A. and becomes a sub.
I thought Method Man did good in his first film too.It's not a gang movie, its a drama about problems being faced in areas that have many gang members.
The teacher is a black guy and his class is not really the best and nicest one.After watching the movie it was a kind of/a bit of watching one of those characteristic films, but not really.