One Eight Seven (1997)

15 months after being stabbed 9 times by a student at work as a high school teacher in NYC, Mr. Garfield is working in LA as a substitute teacher come full-time. He refuses to be a victim anymore.

Director:

Kevin Reynolds

Writer:

Scott Yagemann

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Trevor Garfield
John Heard	...	Dave Childress
Kelly Rowan	...	Ellen Henry
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Cesar Sanchez (as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez)
Tony Plana	...	Principal Garcia
Karina Arroyave	...	Rita Martinez
Lobo Sebastian	...	Benny Chacon
Jack Kehler	...	Larry Hyland
Jonah Rooney	...	Stevie Littleton
Demetrius Navarro	...	Paco
Ebony Monique Solomon	...	Lakesia
Jonny Bogris	...	Barsek (as Yannis Bogris)
Dominic Hoffman	...	Victor
Martha Velez	...	Mrs. Chacon
Method Man	...	Dennis Broadway

Storyline

High school teacher Trevor Garfield is stabbed by bad-boy student. Fifteen months later, he moves to Los Angeles to the unruly, predominantly Latino school. He has to tame wolf-like students.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher as protagonist | teacher | high school | stabbing | new york city | 

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Taglines:

When schools become war zones and both sides start taking casualties, what then?

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, strong language, drug use and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

30 July 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

187

Filming Locations:

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,912,400, 3 August 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,716,080, 7 September 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Entertainment International, Icon Productions, R U Dun Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While riding his exercise bike, Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) wears a Morehouse College sweatshirt, Jackson's alma mater.

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Goofs

In the computer class scene when Stevie storms out of the room there's a boom microphone hanging over Ms. Henry's head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
school official: Alright, let's go people, let's go. One minute until tardy lock-down... take your hat off, thank you... let's go, let's go. Everybody move inside, move inside... morning Trevor, good morning. Let's go, get inside... let her go! No smoking - I don't smoke, you don't smoke. Let's go people, today's a *good* day to learn.

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Crazy Credits

A teacher wrote this movie.

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Alternate Versions

When aired on USA Network, the scene where Rita is topless uses different camera angles to avoid nudity.

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Connections

Referenced in Terror in the Mall (1998)

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Soundtracks

Slack Hands
Written by Dominic Oakenfull, Robert Bernard Gallagher and Valerie Etienne
Performed by Galliano
Courtesy of Slack Records UK/Talkin' Loud/Mercury Records Limited
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

The substitute

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. These are the same children who could benefit from the free education in their new adopted country. 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. The relocation from Brooklyn to L.A. proves to be the wrong move. 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. It appears that kids have the upper hand in whatever is going on because its principal is more interested in avoiding being sued by the students than in educating them. In fact, they rule the school. The worst thing that comes out in the film is how Cesar, a teen ager, who is a bully and a criminal, can't even read! There are a few other aspects the film is trying to explore. Teachers who are corrupt, like is the case with Dave Childress, who admits to having had sex with one of the students. The young woman who is being helped by Mr. Garfield turns against him, only to redeem herself at the end, after it's too late for her to recognize a valuable lesson Trevor taught her.

Samuel L. Jackson gives an intense performance portraying Trevor Garfield. Mr. Jackson shows in the film another dimension to his method of acting. He is never boring. John Heard is the corrupt Dave. Kelly Rowan is Ellen, a teacher who judges her fellow teacher and is repulsed by what she finds out. Clifton Collins is good as Cesar, the ignorant young man, a product of the gang mentality. 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.