One Eight Seven. 1997. USA. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. With Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Clifton Collins, Jr. DCP. 120 min.
Most notable for being Jackson’s first leading role, Kevin Reynolds’s One Eight Seven casts him as Trevor Garfield, a dedicated Brooklyn high school teacher who is stabbed and nearly killed by a vengeful student in the first reel of the film. Fifteen months later, a shaken Garfield is working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles and again finds himself surrounded by violence. Reynolds mostly avoids exploitation film clichés, and Jackson gives a subtle, vulnerable performance as a man who “just wants to teach” but is ultimately unable to rise above his desire for vengeance.