AKA One Eight Seven.

It still gives me chills this one.

It's Movie about a teacher. Who just wants to teach. Who's pitted against kids who don't know what they want. Who aren't confident in what they know. Who are misguided and lost. Who loses everything. And it's based on a book, written by a teacher.

What gives me chills is this, of course.

That maybe there's some truth to this movie. Maybe it's based upon real events. Maybe a teacher could react the way this teacher does, when everything goes against him. And yet in the end he does what he's there to do, and teaches them all a lesson.

I remembered the final scene being the most chilling part, but it's really the part after. And the parts before. The little things that build to it all. Samuel Jackson's performance as a tolerant and warm individual gone wrong. Clifton Collins Jr. as the misguided youth who just knows macho. They're the centerpieces here. The scene when he wakes up without a finger was masterful.

Everything's masterful.

From the sunset haze - the contrasts between beautiful suburbs with hills and palm trees, and of the concrete underbelly, of the slums beneath the bridges. The people in the villas and in the trailer parks. The schools with their warn walls and warm classrooms yet cool and confiding principal offices. The teachers with the scars, and the ones with an air of innocence and lightness. The skin and tears. The reactions. The expressions. The tension before the class. The peer pressure. The false confidence. The nervousness that somehow turns, and a man who's changed... though who would've known about Benny? Who was he. Where did he leave to. His childhood photo certainly shows a different side, but there's not even a glimpse of his encounter with the teacher.

I see more when I see this movie now.

I see that the distance it took for Mr. Garfield to ride the bike in the beginning was a testament to both his sacrifice and his eagerness to teach.

I see the tension when he enters a class again and turns towards the board so clearly I'm tempted to just turn this off and watch something simpler.

But the simpler movies never make you feel the same range of emotion.

I was somehow reminded of this one movie I saw as a child, and came back now for another dose of nuance and understanding. Of all the things missing in the mainstream stuff I see now...

I don't want to hype this up too much for ya, I just want to pay homage - in review form - to one of the most memorable movies I think I've seen. Both the good and the bad. With a more memorable end than maybe even Deer Hunter.

Maybe it somehow set me straight too... I'm doin' alright.

And did you know Method Man played Dennis Broadway, the trouble student early on?! Didn't recognize him at all.

I owe you one, Mr. Garfield. Fictional or no, you moved some hard kids hearts with this.

True artist.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome