187 (1997)

Cast

Plot

Samuel L Jackson is virtually unrecognisable here as Trevor Garfield, a quietly conscientious science teacher who's relocated to LA from New York after being stabbed by a pupil and narrowly escaping death. Unfortunately, Trevor's new headmaster is far too worried about bad publicity and lawsuits to protect his staff from the snarling hoodlums that pass for pupils, so it's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. Mercifully (for us) Trev's attempts to instil some respect in his new charges are met with the contemptuous derision you'd expect (no corny Dangerous Minds-style transformations here!) but when the beleaguered, bespectacled master's watch is stolen by chief tearaway Cesar, Garfield declares war on the lot of them, and very unpleasant things start happening to the little darlings. A gritty ghetto drama with a tense and brooding atmosphere.