Samuel L. Jackson is Trevor Garfield, a teacher from a tough high school in New York City who is severely wounded by a deranged student wielding a knife. So what does this guy do, quit the profession and get a job at Home Depot? No, he travels to Los Angeles and becomes a substitute at one of the most violent high schools in the system.

Jackson is superb and the main reason I recommend this slightly convoluted slab of social commentary that unwisely devolves into a routine thriller at the end. Few actors have the intensity to carry off the demanding role of a mild-mannered guy pushed to the boiling point but Jackson makes it all totally believable.