The Substitute The Substitute (1996) is an action-thriller film starring Tom Berenger as a mercenary who goes undercover as a substitute teacher at a Miami high school to take down a gang responsible for assaulting his fiancée, a teacher at the school. Directed by Robert Mandel, the plot follows his character, Jonathan Shale, as he uses his combat skills and a team of ex-special ops soldiers to fight the gang, uncovering a larger criminal operation involving the school’s principal. The film, whi