187

Bomb Rating: 

Anybody who refers to this film as "brilliant" is a moron.

Anybody who refers to this film as "brilliant" is a moron. Since when does highlighting an obvious problem make you "brilliant" or "gifted" or "insightful"? Did Einstein become famous because he went around telling all his friends that "the universe is really big"?

If there's an even bigger joke to this film it's that the director is Kevin ("Waterworld") Reynolds. Not two seconds into the film there's confusion over the title. Is it "187" or "One Eight Seven"? Frankly, I don't think I'm going to put too much credence in a guy's opinion on the demise of our educational system when he's conflicted over his preference for letters or numbers. This doesn't even take into account that we're also talking about a man who has no demonstrated understanding of the mathematical concept known as a "budget."

Nevertheless, Reynolds insists on making us watch Brooklyn high school teacher Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) get stabbed by one of his students. Because he's obviously some kind of sadist, Trevor celebrates his recovery by moving to Los Angeles and taking a substitute teaching job at the worst high school he can find. When he runs into trouble again, this "brilliant" movie turns into "Stand and Deliver" meets "Falling Down." If Trevor can't teach his students, he kills them.

Perhaps Trevor was never fully educated in the ways of pedagogy -- after all, killing a student is usually considered a black mark during the certification process. It's the point where the instructors often step in and suggest that teaching "may not be for you."

To spread the word about this 187 review on Twitter.