User reviews

'The Principal' is one of those films where Belushi could have been nominated for Best Actor, and Louis Gossett Jr. for Best Supporting Actor...

The film has some great scenes, a good story and character development, and a decent soundtrack...

The film is pretty hard-edged, though has elements of comedy...overall - an under-rated film (ones which I love to review) worth seeing...

[7/10]

The Principal (1987) was another star vehicle for James Belushi. This fun film is Blackboard Jungle mixed with Class of 1984. The film is filled with a lot of the minor stars of this era such as Lou Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Esai Morales and Kelly Jo Minter to name a few.

J.B.stars as a washed out High School Prep teacher who's personal life begins to fall apart. He snaps one day and his immediately canned. That is until he's given a second chance. He's appointed Principal at a local rundown high school. During his tour he plots out away to change not only the school but his own life around.

A nice movie in the vein of Lean On Me. Who am I kidding, this is a bone crunching exploitive film that features all of the things that we love about these type of movies. If this movie was made today it would be a P.G.-13 flick. Not a classic but a nice exploitive affair.

Recommended.

In order to like this film I think one has to like James Belushi. SInce I do, I found this film entertaining and exciting. Belushi takes a job as a principal at a tough inner city high school where he must contend with many problems there. Louis Gossett Jr. also turns in a strong performance as the custodian who befriends Belushi.

James Belushi stars as a teacher with a short fuse who gets to become the principal of the roughest high school in the city. He turns out to be just what the doctor ordered and just what the students and employees needed. "The Principal" is a very violent film that could be best described as "Lean on Me" or "Stand and Deliver" gone stark-raving mad. Belushi is solid here and so is high school security guard Louis Gossett, Jr. in a supporting role. 4 stars out of 5.

The school teacher Rick Latimer (James Belushi) is drinking with friends in a bar when he sees his former wife dating her lawyer responsible for their divorce. Rick smashes up the car of the lawyer, is arrested and the school board sends him to the notorious Brandel High School as an alternative to be fired. Without any other option, Rick moves and finds a school dominated by gangs with students rejected from other schools. He joins the students and tells no more for that situation. The chief of the security Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) believes Rick is crazy but soon he supports the principal attitudes. But the drug lord Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) is not happy with the new principal and promises to kill him.

"The Principal" is that type of movie for fans of films like "To Sir with Love", "Class of 1984" and "Dangerous Minds", where a teacher faces difficulties in a problematic high-school with the students dominated by gangs. James Belushi performs one of his best roles as Rick Latimer, a school teacher that has destroyed all opportunities in life and now has no other option but stay at the notorious Brandel High School. Louis Gossett Jr. is also excellent as the chief of the security guards in the dangerous high-school. The plot might be unrealistic in the present violent days but in the 80´s it would be credible. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Diretor Contra Todos" ("A Principal against Everybody")

THE PRINCIPAL is one of those high school gang flicks that continues to run on TV with some regularity. It is the kind of B-action flick I will stop and watch every time it is broadcast. Jim Belushi is a new principal at a beleaguered, drug-riddled school. With the aid of janitor Lou Gossett, Belushi makes a bid to take back the school, and by the end of the flick, appears to have succeeded. Nasty, R-rated fighting and violence are sprinkled throughout, and the whole thing is engrossing even with Belushi's "Captain Kirk" beer gut often getting in the way. One incredible and truly exhilarating sequence has Belushi riding his chopper into the school in pursuit of a thug about to rape the delectable Rae Dawn Chong. Another terrific sequence has Belushi trapping some thugs in the school library, eventually sending one of them sailing through a second story window to the school grounds below. The big finale, set in a darkened locker room, is suspenseful and not your ordinary finish. It would appear this cheese lovers' delight influenced the one and only THE SUBSTITUTE, which came out about five years later. It will help if you are a Belushi fan to truly enjoy THE PRINCIPAL. I happen to be a Belushi fan from way back. By the way, I don't disagree with those who say Gossett might have been equally effective in the lead.

James Belushi socks it to em' and gives a creditable performance as a high school teacher going through a difficult time. He is posted as the new principal of a school nobody wants to be involved in. Plot is akin to Michelle Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds but in this case, Belushi is the hard-case Principal determined to make a real change of his life and his students. The movie builds to a climatic ending that has you rooting for Belushi. The feel good ending, however, mars what otherwise is a good and engaging story.

Principal Joe Clark*, Rick Latimer (Jim Belushi) was not, but he was effective.

I had a hard time believing that someone looking like Jim Belushi would take a job as a principal in the heart of the ghetto much less actually care about said job. But as the movie wore on he grew on me. He began to fit the tough yet caring principal figure.

Now, what I could never grasp were the actually high schoolers. Not a single one of them looked remotely high school age. These were grown men and women roaming the halls. The main guy, Victor Duncan (Michael Wright), had to have been about 30 years old. What in the world was he still doing in high school!?

Getting past the overage students, this was a good movie. It wasn't quite "Class of 1984" where Principal Latimer had to go on a killing spree to cleanse the school of its bad elements but it was a physical fight.

I'm always impressed with educators that have the patience and forbearance to deal with problem kids. We're all cut from different cloth and I'm cut from the cloth that is highly combustible. Admittedly, I have very little patience, but I can admire those who have what I consider an abundance of patience.

Even at the best schools there will be problems, so what about the dumping ground schools? Rick Latimer was the principal Brandel High School needed.

*Joe Clark was the principal in Lean on Me.

I thought this movie was terrible. Full of poor acting (this coming from someone who loves James Belushi) and an even worse plot. I could barely stomach Belushi's "Dirty Harry" tactics for taking back an urban school. I dunno, maybe I didn't realize it was an action film and not a drama, which is what I expected, but I was personally hoping for a better dealing with issues in this movie, like a young teenage mother, and the community in which this school is in. Why didn't he consult with the community and the police to get help dealing with this situation? I don't know. I suppose if the movie actually dealt with that issue, then you'd lose the action audience...

Rick Latimer (James Belushi) is a high-school teacher with some social issues. Hard drinking and soon to be divorced, Latimer flies of the handle when he spies his ex out having a drink in a bar with another man. Up before the school board, who have tired of his combustible attitude, Latimer is informed that he has finally got the Principal position he has long since courted. Trouble is is that it is at Brandel High, a notoriously troubled school where violence and crime are part of the curriculum. Taking up an attitude of fighting fire with fire and working from his motto of "No More," Latimer hopes to bring order and respect to the school. But with only Security guard Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr) as an ally and the thuggish school kingpin Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) after his blood, Latimer will do well to just survive the first week.

The formula of such movies like The Principal is now seen as old hat, post the release of Christopher Cain's movie you can trace a line from Lean On Me in 1989, to The Substitute 1996 and on to One Eight Seven the following year. Prior to The Principal the topic is a bit more thin on the ground, we can probably laud the excellent Blackboard Jungle from 1955, while 1984 saw Mark L. Lester tap into the video nasty zeitgeist of the early 80s with his trashy Classs Of 1984. So plenty of films, and similar types like Stand And Deliver, from which to choose should you require a night in with a teacher intent on straightening out those ruffians; whilst ensuring the good kids get the education they deserve. So why choose The Principal then?

Well James Belushi's fans don't need much convincing here, an always likable star who knows the limits of his talents, the film gives him the chance to mix serious drama with his comedy bent. This played out with immeasurable cool too. Latimer is one bad ass teacher, he drinks hard, plays hard, whirls his baseball bat and rides a motorcycle. He's no Dolph Lungdren (Detention) or a Tom Berrenger (The Substitute), but Belushi can carry off the tough side of Latimer, whilst showing his fallibility's via little comedy moments as he wonders just what the hell he is doing here. Belushi is admirably supported by Gossett Jr, a believable tough security guard if ever there was one, while a lot of the film's strength is drawn from the developing relationship between the two men. Of the rest of the cast it's Michael Wright who stands out as head thug Victor. Already at the time of release a cult actor thanks to his turn in The Wanderers, Wright is supremely cool and terrifying into the bargain. When he shouts "I expel you," you start to pack your bags, that is unless you are Principal Latimer of course.

As ever with a film of this type there are complaints that it's full of stereotypes, but were they in 1987? Director Cain is for sure not addressing the then fledgling problems of education and crime amongst African-American and Latino school kids. But he is not shying away from the issue either. That the most unsavoury point in the film sees a white youth perpetrate crime on a black teacher tends to get over looked by snarky PC critics. Make no bones about it tho, this is more macho than the rest, again this is something that has upset many a critic who prefers the "reach out to the kids" approach in something like Morgan Freeman's excellent, but tonally different, Lean On Me. Oh yes sir, this is taking a different tack, but I for one appreciate having a different angle from which to view such subject matter. Some hooligans can be saved by reaching out to them, but lets not kid ourselves that some of them don't need more than just a telling off from The Principal. Yes the film is also very 80s, none more so than with the soundtrack where we get a mix of the bad; some American Heartbeat sounding fluffer, and the great; Strafe's pulse rocking "Set It Off". Not setting out to win awards or moralise about an ongoing problem, The Principal goes for a tough and gritty approach for this semester. Amen to that sir. 8/10

This is a pretty good '80s vehicle for James Belushi, who gets to show off both comedic and dramatic chops as Rick Latimer, a teacher who, in a drunken state one night, flies into a rage upon seeing his ex-wife with another man (her attorney, no less). After beating the hell out of the mans' car with a baseball bat, his superiors decide to "reward" him with a principal gig. The catch is that the gig is at the city's most crime ridden inner city high school. Now, Latimer may have his faults, but being a more or less good guy he's incensed at what he sees and decides that he's going to clean up the school, no matter what. Offering some assistance is the schools' head of security, Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.). Rick takes special interest in students such as young mother Treena (Kelly Jo Minter) and the sincere Arturo (Jacob Vargas), who's only now learning to read. Meanwhile, the biggest piece of criminal scum at the place, Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) tries to scare off Rick, but Rick won't have any of it, and the stage will be set for a final showdown at some point. "The Principal" does score high marks for good intentions, even as it recalls earlier films such as "The Blackboard Jungle" and "Class of 1984" (other films in this genre, of course, include "Stand and Deliver", "Lean On Me", and "Dangerous Minds"). It's reasonably absorbing and tells a decent story, which was written by Frank Deese, a real life teacher who also plays a small role in the movie. What makes it work as well as it does are the variety of entertaining characters, both likable and unlikable. Belushi is in fine form and does seem to be improvising at some points. Gossett Jr. is solid as a rock and the sexy Rae Dawn Chong has the role of impassioned teacher Hilary Orozco. Wright is completely convincing as the antagonist, largely because he mostly underplays the part. Playing other students are Esai Morales as the poetic Raymi Rojas, J.J. Cohen as scuzzy white creep White Zac, and the engaging Troy Winbush as "Baby" Emile, the gang member who has a change of heart. Director Christopher Cain also creates some very effective suspense in the ultimate confrontation between principal and criminal. Best of all, while there is some serious subject matter in the material, Cain and company never get heavy handed in the attempt to create some sort of "message movie", and mix the exploitative ingredients with the serious ones to make an entertaining package in general. By the end, you can't help but cheer the principal on. Seven out of 10.

I originally saw this movie on HBO back in the late eighties about 3:00 AM after a night of drinking. I laughed my rear end off, not because it was funny, but because of how stupid it was. That doesn't mean it is a bad film. It gives you exactly what you would expect from Jim Belushi which is "Jim Belushi"! He doesn't act, he just acts like a tough guy that is really likable. Him as a high school principal is the most ridiculous idea for a plot. It came out during the Reagan years, which is no surprise because that was a time when any lazy person could make a movie. It was also during that "tough love" era, where it takes a good-hearted, aggressively dumb person, to straighten out problems with the education system of poor inner city schools instead of stuffy liberal weasels. Forget the stupid plot, grab some alcohol, sit back and laugh!

One of the things I like to ponder is what modern stars would fill the shoes of actors of the past or parts they played. For instance, if they did a remake of Bonanza, John Goodman would fill Dan Blockers shoes pretty well as Hoss, & I think Michael J Fox may be a passable Little Joe. Also of course, Cheryl Ladd did well as Grace Kelly. Some stars have been so one of a kind though that one would be hard pressed to imagine who would be up to the task. John Wayne is one such figure. While James Belushi may not quite have the physical stature of the Duke, his performance in The Principal comes the closest in my impression to reminding me of the "cut the crap" individualism of the screen legend. Public schools could probably learn a lot from this feature.

Of the many comedians of early Saturday Night Live who have gone on to movies, Belushi appears to be the one who has most successfully transcended the comedian stereotype. While Bill Murrey may do well as a comic role being serious, the few pictures I've seen James Belushi in suggest that he's more like a serious actor who's also funny.

Good feature for those of us who are tired of irresponsible youth getting a free pass.

Nothing new under sun, as "The Principal" could be seen as a more aggressively modern "Blackboard Jungle" inspiration (which it could possibly have done the same for "Dangerous Minds") amongst a urban ghetto backdrop. You could also say its like "Class of 1984", only less trashier and explicit with the action and cleaning out. John Belushi (an effectively imposing turn balancing the dry humour with a serious side) stars as a teacher Rick Latimer who's life is falling apart and an brutal act involving his ex-wife and new lover, sees him being offered (though there's no real choice to it) a new position as principal at a school that's over-run by drugs, violence and gangs who don't have education on their minds. So he goes about making changes, but a certain drug dealer Victor Duncan (a superbly lethal Michael Wright) sees this as a threat and goes on to make it hell. But Latimer doesn't cave in and soon finds an ally in janitor Jake Phillips (a tough performance by Lou Gossett Jr.)

The formulaic story (which at times can get preachy) seems to be fuelled by such topics as crime, racism and talent untapped in what Belushi's strong-minded character transforms, as he might be in over his head however his got nothing to lose. He takes it on the chin, and tries to build upon the foundation than letting it slide… despite the scoffing and violence targeted at him. Director Christopher Cain does a polished job with his forward handling, but never letting it loose focus on the raw and brutal side of things. Crisp, but explosively high octane. Surprisingly it was more intense and action-oriented than I was expecting. The encounters involving Latimer and Victor coming to blows in what was a power tussle for control and dominance was always gripping in the scheme of things. Performances are well-guided with some other familiar faces in Rae Dawn Chong, Esai Morales and Jacob Vargas. Also throughout we get some drowning 80s tunes spliced throughout to evoke spirit and grit.

I think my review title says it all about the James Belushi starring film, The Principal. It's yet another of those Blackboard Jungle inspired films now updated to the Reagan Era.

Belushi's a teacher with a really lousy personal life and after beating up on his ex-wife's boyfriend and trashing the car of same, he gets to spend a night in the clink. It's a good thing that teachers have some strict tenure rules or I'm sure he'd have been history and not taught it any more.

Anyway even though he can't be fired without all kinds of rigmarole he can sure be transferred from his nice suburban school to one toilet of a school in inner city Oakland. So Belushi's off to Brandel High School which is run by drug dealer Michael Wright and he's only got school custodian Lou Gossett, Jr. as an ally.

The teachers aren't crazy about him, they keep an uneasy truce and try to teach the ones that want to learn. One of them, Rae Dawn Chong is hostile, but she gradually converts.

Belushi's under pressure from above, he has to succeed or they will go through the laborious process of getting rid of him. Turns out he might just be what Brandel High needs.

Belushi and Gossett have a nice chemistry in their scenes together. Esai Morales is strangely underused, I have a feeling a lot of his performance was left on the cutting room floor. My favorite however is Jacob Vargas, a kid that both Chong and Belushi take an interest in.

The Principal is in a long line of similarly themed films from The Blackboard Jungle to Dangerous Minds. Entertaining enough with a lot of action for a school based film.

Jim Belushi is drinking at a bar when his ex-wife walks in with her date: her divorce lawyer. Belushi winds up in a fight with him and gets dragged off by the cops. At work, he's not fired. He's promoted to the principal of the district's worst school. There's drugs, gang violence, the teachers are just serving time, and Michael Wright -- two years younger than Belushi -- in a leather duster, who is clearly the villain of the piece. On his side are Lou Gosset, who is in charge of security, and Rae Dawn Chong, as an idealistic, struggling history teacher.

The movie has a HIGH NOON vibe to it and is one of the right-wing-violence movies of the 1970s and 1980s, like DIRTY HARRY and RED DAWN; the only way to respond to violence is for the principled to use violence. This isn't new. Before the Production Code shut them down, there were movies which glorified vigilante action against gangsters. Now, with the Code shut down, theme theme was again part of the conversation.

This movie is no great example of cinema. It is filled with cliches. It is, however, competently directed by Christopher Cain, with good, moody lighting by Arthur Albert and efficient editing by Jack Hofstra. This film offers no advancement in technique, has nothing particularly useful to say. Half a century earlier, it would have been a B movie from a Poverty Row producer. It's totally undistinguished, but it does tell its story swiftly and efficiently.

this movie is about a man who ends up being principal of one of the worst schools in the country.the school is pretty much run by a drug lord/gang banger and his cronies.the teachers have given up hope on the kids and stopped teaching them.Rick Latimer (James Belushi)is Latimer,who finds himself in over his head,but won't quit.this is more of an action movie than an inspirational one.it's sorta like The Substitute and other similar movies.i don't think there's any real deep message here.and maybe that wasn't the intent of the filmmakers.maybe they just set out to making an entertaining action movie.if so,they succeeded.i found it entertaining.for me,The Principal is a 7/10

I first saw The Principal as a young boy. It made quite an impression on me, and now as an adult, I can't help but revisit it every now and then. Despite having lost some of its shock value over time, the movie has retained its suspense. The style is unmistakably Eighties (I think in an endearing way) and James Belushi's charisma and drama chops carry the story- which occasionally gets silly (also endearingly). The plot is delivered in a compelling way, and evenly divides it focus between character development and the central conflict. By today's standards, the exaggeration and melodrama would probably lead most to dismiss The Principal as stupid. Although I partially appreciate it in the way it was intended, a lot of what makes the movie entertaining is how easily it can be laughed at.

The basic story was told (and much more effectively, I might add - perhaps because it was based on real people and events) a couple of years later in "Lean On Me." This movie is a fictional account of roughly the same chain of events - a teacher gets assigned as principal to an inner city school that's become a haven for gangs and drug-dealing and he sets himself to the task of cleaning it up. Perhaps because it's not based in reality, at times "The Principal" comes across as a bit too extreme, and at times it even seems a bit silly, to be honest. Some of the characters - especially Miss Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) also seem to be a bit of a puzzle. I'll explain my confusion over her later.

I will say that James Belushi did well with this part. He played Rick Latimer - the down and out teacher who gets assigned to Brandel High School because there's no one else to go there and basically the Board of Education is throwing him away. That's the reality of Branden. Neither the students nor the teachers have anywhere to go. That, by the way, is my confusion over Miss Orozco. Why was she there? She seemed to be a pretty good, young teacher who clearly (as the movie finally points out) does have options. Her character seemed out of place because she didn't belong in that school; the attack on her seemed out of place because it really didn't serve to push forward the main story; her budding friendship (romance - it wasn't really clear) with Latimer seemed out of place. That's an aside, mind you. Again - Belushi did well as Latimer. For a down and out teacher, it seemed a bit strange that he would set himself to the hard work of trying to clean up the school, but the characters in this admittedly aren't that believable.

The story works, though. It's a good story. It inevitably draws you in and gets you rooting for Latimer. It's all pretty clear-cut in terms of good guys and bad guys. There are no real moral dilemmas to confront you because everything is so clear-cut. You just watch, and you stay interested. You know there has to be a final confrontation coming between Latimer and Victor (the drug-dealing student who "ruled" the school until Latimer arrived) and you basically wait for the final confrontation between the two. That final confrontation is for part of the time suspenseful, but in the end it also turns rather silly. Latimer's "my turn" after Victor gives him a pretty good beating made me chuckle a bit.

It's not a bad movie. It's too simple and straightforward and it has some extraneous material and some extraneous characters, but it's not bad. Even enjoyable, for the most part. (7/10)

This is a great 80's film - James Belushi and Louis Gossett, Jr. are excellent and you're with them all the way as they're so likeable.

Rick Latimer (Belushi) is great; he starts off as being a kind-of drunken, violent loser (but he's funny so we let him off) and then becomes a reluctant hero who realises why he's a teacher in the first place and makes an effort to SORT THINGS OUT.

This film is full of COOL bits; every scene with Latimer on his motorcycle ("Disneyland!" or 'El Principal'), the scene where the makeshift security team crack down ("...set it off on the left, y'all, set it off on the right..."), the assembly scene ("NO MORE!")...all great. Soundtrack's also TOP (if you like 80's music..!).

Recommended.

"I got my a** kicked for nothin', Ricky!"

This film begins with a California high school teacher by the name of "Rick Latimer" (James Belushi) getting drunk in a bar and then demolishing a car in the parking lot with a baseball bat. Needless to say, this embarrasses the school board who subsequently call him in and-offer him a promotion as a principal. The catch is that the high school they want him to take over is the worst in the entire city. Recognizing that he has very little choice, Rick belatedly accepts the job. What he doesn't realize, however, is just how bad this school really is and so, with nowhere else to go, he decides to clean up the school-or die trying. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a good movie which suffered from some extremely unrealistic scenes here and there. That being said, I liked the fatalistic sense of humor which James Belushi used to great effect and seemed so natural on his part. Likewise, I also liked the performances of Louis Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong and to a lesser extent that of Kelly Jo Minter. Again though, this is not a very realistic movie and for that reason I have rated it a little lower than several other viewers. Average.