Hard Lessons

Being a Treat Williams (The Deep End of the Ocean, Deep Rising) fan, I was very disappointed to see him do a direct to HBO sequel to The Substitute (starring Tom Berenger). After seeing The Substitute 2 I was even more disappointed it was a boring action film saved only by Williams who pretty much walked through the role anyways. Now once again Williams is doing a direct to HBO sequel. And although I'm still disappointed, at least The Substitute 3 is a decent action film. Williams once again goes undercover as a teacher this time at a nice college where the football players are given almost free rein (including beating up teachers). When undercover Williams discovers a whole conspiracy involving the football team. The film is nothing great, but does provide solid entertainment and Williams is very good in the lead, this time not just walking through the role, but giving some energy.

This film was ok, but not quite as good as #2. Still worth a look though. Treat Williams does quite nicely in his role. And Claudia Christian does great as a back-up.

I'm a fan of Substitute and Substitute 2, but this one left me a little lukewarm. I hope they keep the series going, because this installment needs some redeeming. I felt that the ending was too quick and sudden, and there wasn't really enough establishing of all the characters to give us a feeling of if we should care.

I really like Treat Williams and I think he did very well in The Substitute 3. The movie itself was B-grade but that didnt matter it was still a very good film and I would suggest it to anyone, If you havent already seen it then hurry up and rent it on video, its worth it.

8/10

If you've seen any action film, then you've seen "The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All", the second sequel to the original 1996 film. Treat Williams (The Phantom, Deep Rising) reprises his role from "The Substitute 2" as Carl Thomason, a hired mercenary-turned-teacher. The plot of this movie revolves around Thomason trying to find the people who attacked an old war buddy's daughter. This movie basically goes for mindless action at the expense of logic. All in all, it's a decent movie if your in the mood for some mind-numbing action.