If you want proof that Eric Roberts will appear in just about anything, just consider 2024’s Bad Substitute.

Though the title brings to mind a Lifetime film (and, as soon as I heard the title, I imagined Vivica A. Fox saying, “Looks like you hired the bad substitute,”), Bad Substitute is actually a comedy in the style of Bad Teacher, Bad Moms, Bad Bosses. and all the other bad films.  Eric Roberts plays the principal of a high school who has to find someone willing to teach summer school.  With all of his regular teachers having an excuse to get out of giving up their summer, Roberts is forced to turn to a teaching assistant (played by Steven Krasner, the film’s director and writer) who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and now has his entire summer open.  The bad substitute has a class of misfits who need to prove themselves by passing their exams and he has a crush on the dedicated teacher working next door.  You can pretty much guess where all this is leading.

Now, to be honest, for all the flaws in this film, I really don’t have any interest in trashing the Bad Substitute.  The film pretty much is what it was advertised to be.  It is what it is and I think most people’s critical ire is better served by being focused on expensive but bland studio films as opposed to an obviously low-budget and rather amateurish production that looks like it was filmed on someone’s phone.  Bad Substitute may not be a good film but it’s also not actively hurting anyone.

What I will say is that Eric Roberts makes an impression as the principal, showing what a good actor can do with even limited resources.  His befuddlement at discovering that all of his teachers are claiming to have COVID should be put in museum because it’s a moment that perfectly captures the mood of the past few years.  Bad Substitute, whatever else you may say about it, should give every aspiring filmmaker hope.  Maybe Eric Roberts can be in your film too!

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

1. Star 80 (1983)
2. Runaway Train (1985)
3. Blood Red (1989)
4. The Ambulance (1990)
5. The Lost Capone (1990)
6. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
7. Voyage (1993)
8. Love Is A Gun (1994)
9. Sensation (1994)
10. Dark Angel (1996)
11. Doctor Who (1996)
12. Most Wanted (1997)
13. Mercy Streets (2000)
14. Raptor (2001)
15. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
16. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
17. Mr. Brightside (2004)
18. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
19. Hey You (2006)
20. Amazing Racer (2009)
21. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
22. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
23. Enemies Among Us (2010)
24. The Expendables (2010) 
25. Sharktopus (2010)
26. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
27. The Dead Want Women (2012)
28. Deadline (2012)
29. The Mark (2012)
30. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
31. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
32. Lovelace (2013)
33. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
34. The Perfect Summer (2013)
35. Self-Storage (2013)
36. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
37. This Is Our Time (2013)
38. Inherent Vice (2014)
39. Road to the Open (2014)
40. Rumors of War (2014)
41. Amityville Death House (2015)
42. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
43. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
44. Las Vegas Story (2015)
45. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
46. Enemy Within (2016)
47. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
48. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
49. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
50. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
51. Dark Image (2017)
52. Black Wake (2018)
53. Frank and Ava (2018)
54. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
55. Clinton Island (2019)
56. Monster Island (2019)
57. The Reliant (2019)
58. The Savant (2019)
59. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
60. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
61. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
62. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
63. Free Lunch Express (2020)
64. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
65. Top Gunner (2020)
66. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
67. The Elevator (2021)
68. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
69. Killer Advice (2021)
70. Night Night (2021)
71. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
72. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
73. A Town Called Parable (2021)
74. Bleach (2022)
75. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
76. D.C. Down (2023)
77. Aftermath (2024)
78. Devil’s Knight (2024)
79. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
80. When It Rains In L.A. (2025