187 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Kevin Reynolds |
Written by | Scott Yagemann |
Produced by | Bruce Davey Stephen McEveety |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ericson Core |
Edited by | Stephen Semel |
Music by | David Darling Michael Stearns |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million |
Box office | $5.7 million |
One Eight Seven (also known as 187) is a 1997 American crime thriller film directed by Kevin Reynolds. It was the first top-billed starring role for Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a Los Angeles teacher caught with gang trouble in an urban high school. It also has John Heard, Kelly Rowan and Clifton Collins Jr. in supporting roles. The film's name comes from the California Penal Code Section 187, which defines murder.
The original screenplay was written in 1995 by Scott Yagemann, a Los Angeles area high school substitute teacher for seven years. He wrote the screenplay after an incident when a violent transfer student had threatened to kill him and his family. Yagemann reported the threat to the authorities and the student was arrested. About a week later, he was called by the district attorney to testify against the student in a court of law, where the student was being prosecuted for stabbing a teacher's aide a year before. This annoyed Yagemann, who had not been told about it beforehand, and led to him writing the screenplay. He claimed that 90% of the film's material is based on incidents that had happened to him and other teachers in real life. [1] [2]
Trevor Garfield is a high school science teacher in Brooklyn. Dennis Broadway, a gangster student to whom he had given a failing grade, threatens to murder him, writing the number 187 (the police code for homicide) on every page in a textbook. Garfield reports his concerns to the administration, who ignores Garfield's warning. Soon afterwards, Dennis ambushes Garfield in the school hallway, stabbing him in the back and side multiple times with a shiv.
Garfield survives and is shown resuming his teaching career as a substitute teacher fifteen months later. He relocates to the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, but is assigned to another class of unruly students, including a Chicano tag crew by the name of "Kappin' Off Suckers" (K.O.S.). Their leader, Benny Chacón, a felon attending high school as a condition of probation, makes it clear to Garfield that there will be no mutual respect.
Tension mounts when another teacher, Ellen Henry, confides that Benny has also threatened her life, an action against which the administration of the school refuses to take action as they fear the threat of legal action. After Benny murders a rival tagger in cold blood, he disappears, and Benny's tag partner, César Sanchez takes over as leader. César continues to defy Garfields attempts to create order which starts with César being put on the spot to read, but being unable to properly read the textbook, followed by the theft of Garfield's watch another day. Garfield reports this to the principal who declines to act due to fear of a lawsuit by César. Garfield finds out the combination to César's locker and retrieves his watch. He shows César that he recovered it and suggests that they start over, which César declines to do.
Following several other incidents, César amps up the conflict between Garfield and the K.O.S. by killing Jack, Ellen's dog. Later after spraying cartoon graffiti depicting a dead dog, César 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 removed. The hospital receives a letter with his finger, it now has "R U DUN" ("are you done?") tattooed upon it. Garfield asked this of César many times.
Later Garfield witnesses Rita Martínez, a student he is tutoring, facing abuse from the K.O.S. Rita drops out of school to escape the abuse. Garfield is eventually fired after administrators find out that he had Rita over to his house for a tutoring session due to the unsavory implications.
Benny's dead body is discovered in the Los Angeles River. César and the K.O.S. believe Garfield to be responsible for the killing. César and the K.O.S., inspired by the film The Deer Hunter , corner Garfield at his home to keep him from leaving town after losing his job and get him to confess to killing Benny and cutting off César's finger which he does without any hesitance. They force Garfield into a contest of Russian roulette with César. César, in a machismo mode, loads the revolver with two bullets. After each round, Garfield talks about the lost-cause lifestyle César has led. Garfield, on the penultimate round, takes his turn and survives. Instead of handing the weapon to César, Garfield takes the next turn and the weapon goes off; killing himself instantly. Driven by his sense of honor and enraged over the failure of his revenge, César insists on taking his rightful turn against the protests of his horrified friends and ends up killing himself.
On graduation day, Rita is shown to have completed her studies and successfully graduated along with the now former K.O.S. member Stevie, who is filled with remorse and feels disillusioned with the gang life. Rita offers a tribute to Garfield by reading an essay about him. The essay incorporates the theme of the pyrrhic victory. Paco, the only other surviving member of the K.O.S, drops out of school yet stays behind long enough to watch the graduation before disappearing into the city. A heartbroken Ellen resigns and leaves the school.
The closing narration cites a 1994 MetLife-Louis Harris Survey stating one in nine teachers has been attacked in school and 95 percent of those attacks were committed by students, as well as the movie being written by a teacher. [2] [3]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 30% based on reviews from 27 critics. [4]
Roger Ebert rated the film 2 out of 4 stars, complimenting the "strong and sympathetic performance" by Samuel L. Jackson and saying that the movie "has elements that are thoughtful and tough about inner-city schools" but it also contains "elements that belong in a crime thriller or a war movie". He also felt that the movie's "destination doesn't have much to do with how it got there". [5]
The film grossed $5.7 million domestically in its theatrical release. [6]
In retrospect Director Kevin Reynolds said the movie was a "great experience" and blamed the grim ending for the lukewarm reception. [7]
In an interview with Vulture, Samuel L. Jackson singled out One Eight Seven as his most underrated film:
“One Eight Seven was a serious subject that got kicked to the curb for some reason. I remember they were trying to get us on Oprah to talk about the plight of teachers in schools. And she was busy promoting Beloved, so she wouldn’t. 'I don’t do violence on my shows.' I said, 'B*tch, you just killed your g*ddamn daughter in your own room. The f*** you talking about? Give me a break.' And now prophetically teachers are getting jacked in schools every day. This movie spoke directly to that."
Music from the Motion Picture 187 | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released | July 29, 1997 |
Recorded | 1997 |
Genre | Hip hop, electronica, trip hop |
Label | Atlantic |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [9] |
The film's soundtrack was released under the title Music from the Motion Picture 187 on July 29, 1997, through Atlantic Records. Unlike films like Dangerous Minds and The Substitute that dealt with similar subject matter, this soundtrack did not receive an urban music soundtrack. Instead the soundtrack was made up of trip hop, a combination of hip hop and electronica.
No. | Title | Performing artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Slack Hands" | Galliano | 4:46 |
2. | "Spying Glass" | Massive Attack | 5:20 |
3. | "Release Yo' Delf (Prodigy Remix)" | Method Man | 4:54 |
4. | "Stem" | DJ Shadow | 3:25 |
5. | "Flipside" | Everything But the Girl | 4:30 |
6. | "Karmacoma" | Massive Attack | 5:21 |
7. | "In November" | Dave Darling | 4:28 |
8. | "Neither Sing Sing nor Baden Baden" | Bang Bang | 5:57 |
9. | "Raincry" | God Within | 5:40 |
10. | "Pregao" | Madredeus | 4:03 |
11. | "The Wilderness" | V Love | 5:16 |
12. | "Mankind, Pt. 2" | Jalal Mansur Nuriddin | 5:02 |
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American actor. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing actor of all time. In 2022, he received the Academy Honorary Award as "a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide".
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca, based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante. For portraying Escalante, Edward James Olmos was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 61st Academy Awards. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature in 1988. The film's title refers to the 1987 Mr. Mister song of the same name, which is also featured in the film's ending credits.
In & Out is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Paul Rudnick, and starring Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart, Shalom Harlow, and Wilford Brimley. Cusack was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, but lost to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential.
Jungle Fever is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. Starring Lee, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, Tim Robbins, Brad Dourif, Giancarlo Esposito, Debi Mazar, Michael Imperioli, Anthony Quinn, and Halle Berry and Queen Latifah in their film debuts, Jungle Fever explores the beginning and end of an extramarital interracial relationship against the urban backdrop of the streets of New York City in the early 1990s. The film received positive reviews, with particular praise for Samuel L. Jackson's performance, and was also commercially successful.
Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutiérrez was a Bolivian-American educator known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Escalante was the subject of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, in which he is portrayed by Edward James Olmos.
Elephant is a 2003 American psychological drama film written, directed and edited by Gus Van Sant. It takes place in Watt High School, in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film begins a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and out of school, who are unaware of what is about to unfold. The film stars mostly new actors, including John Robinson, Alex Frost, and Eric Deulen.
Garfield: The Movie is a 2004 American comedy film based on Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield. Directed by Peter Hewitt and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, it stars Breckin Meyer as Jon Arbuckle, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Dr. Liz Wilson and features Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield, who was created with computer-generated imagery.
Die Hard with a Vengeance is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by John McTiernan. It was written by Jonathan Hensleigh, based on the screenplay Simon Says by Hensleigh and on the characters created by Roderick Thorp for his 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever. Die Hard with a Vengeance is the third film in the Die Hard film series, after Die Hard 2 (1990). It is followed by Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013).
In 1994, a court in Singapore sentenced an American teenager, Michael Fay, to be lashed six times with a cane for violating the Vandalism Act. This caused a temporary strain in relations between Singapore and the United States.
S.W.A.T. is a 2003 American action crime thriller film directed by Clark Johnson and written by David Ayer and David McKenna, with the story credited to Ron Mita and Jim McClain. Produced by Neal H. Moritz, it is based on the 1975 television series of the same name and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van Holt and Olivier Martinez. The plot follows Hondo (Jackson) and his SWAT team as they are tasked to escort an imprisoned drug kingpin/international fugitive to prison after he offers a $100 million reward to anyone who can break him out of police custody.
Coach Carter is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter. It is based on the true story of Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter, who made headlines in 1999 for suspending his undefeated high school basketball team due to poor academic results. The story was conceived from a screenplay co-written by John Gatins and Mark Schwahn. The ensemble cast features Rob Brown, Channing Tatum, Debbi Morgan, Robert Ri'chard and singer Ashanti.
Teachers is a 1984 American satirical black comedy-drama film written by W. R. McKinney, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, Ralph Macchio, and Judd Hirsch. It was shot in Columbus, Ohio, mostly at the former Central High School.
James A. Garfield High School is a year-round public high school founded in 1925 in East Los Angeles, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, California. At Garfield, 38% of students participate in advanced placement programs. Approximately 93% of the student population comes from disadvantaged backgrounds with limited financial or social opportunities. The school maintains a comprehensive minority admission policy with a 100% minority population.
A Time to Kill is a 1996 American legal drama film based on John Grisham's 1989 novel of the same name. Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey star with Donald and Kiefer Sutherland appearing in supporting roles and Octavia Spencer in her film debut. The film received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, making $152 million worldwide. It is the second of two films based on Grisham's novels directed by Joel Schumacher, with the other being The Client released two years prior.
The East Los Angeles Walkouts or Chicano Blowouts were a series of 1968 protests by Chicano students against unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. The first walkout occurred on March 5, 1968. The students who organized and carried out the protests were primarily concerned with the quality of their education. This movement, which involved thousands of students in the Los Angeles area, was identified as "the first major mass protest against racism undertaken by Mexican-Americans in the history of the United States".
Freedom Writers is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey and Mario.
Life Is Beautiful is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written, directed and produced by Fazil. The film stars Mohanlal and Samyuktha Varma and Geethu Mohandas in lead roles, and features a soundtrack composed by Ouseppachan. The film was released on 14 April 2000, and is partly a remake of the classic "Dead Poets Society", but title was inspired by the 1997 Italian film of the same title Life is Beautiful. It's also marked AS Geethu’s first Malayalam film as a leading actress, having previously acted as a child artist.
Reaching for the Sun is a 1941 American comedy film directed by William A. Wellman and written by W.L. River. The film stars Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew, Eddie Bracken, Albert Dekker, Billy Gilbert, George Chandler and Bodil Ann Rosing. The film was released on May 2, 1941, by Paramount Pictures.
The Protégé is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Richard Wenk, and starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Malahide, David Rintoul, Ori Pfeffer, Ray Fearon, Caroline Loncq, and Robert Patrick. The film is about Anna, who was rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, and is now the world's most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody is brutally killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows. The film was released on August 20, 2021 by Lionsgate. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $8 million at the box office.
The Garfield Movie is an upcoming American animated comedy film based on Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield, produced by Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, animated by DNEG Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay written by David Reynolds and the writing team of Paul A. Kaplan and Mark Torgove, the film stars Chris Pratt as the voice of the titular character, alongside the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, and Bowen Yang.