The Principal

Rating:
Summary: James Belushi gets a promotion
Review: Following an arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct, schoolteacher Belushi is transferred to the worst school in the district and designated the new principal. Except for some halfhearted support from some of the faculty and a few students, he's all on his own. That sets the tone of the story, because most of the student body is out to get him. Louis Gossett Jr. is solid as the school security guard, and so is Rae Dawn Chong as a teacher that Belushi is able to make headway with. The fine performances and some gripping tension lift this above some of the other "violent youthgang" movies.

Rating:
Summary: James Belushi gets a promotion
Review: Following an arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct, schoolteacher Belushi is transferred to the worst school in the district and designated the new principal. Except for some halfhearted support from some of the faculty and a few students, he's all on his own. That sets the tone of the story, because most of the student body is out to get him. Louis Gossett Jr. is solid as the school security guard, and so is Rae Dawn Chong as a teacher that Belushi is able to make headway with. The fine performances and some gripping tension lift this above some of the other "violent youthgang" movies.

Rating:
Summary: Belushi Is One Tough Dude
Review: I just saw this movie today on FX and damn...it's badass. I had never even heard of it until seeing promos for it the past couple of days, and I've got to give props. [...]

The auditorium scene is great...Belushi lets the students know that "The Principal" is in charge.

Rating:
Summary: "I'm The Principal, Man!"
Review: In 1987, James Belushi starred in one his best roles to date. James stars as Rick Latimer: a tough, motorcycle bar-fighter who is a school teacher that is transfered to become the principal at the worst school in the entire district, Brandell, which is a drug-infested, full of gangs and the worst kid in the school that everybody fears is the gang leader Victor Duncan (Michael Wright). When Rick arrives at his new school, he notices all the violent actions that go on here. When he takes notice of all this, he makes his official speech to the school with these two words as his demand to the students: "NO MORE!" Now he plans to clean up this school with the help of the head security guard Jake (Louis Gossett Jr.).

Rick realizes that it won't be easy cleaning up this school with almost all of the students against them, including Duncan and his gang. Rick creates a whole team of secuity guards to stop the selling of drugs on school grounds, gambling, fighting, and stealing. Duncan realizes that this new "Principal" isn't going to go away. So he and his gang brutally beat him up to teach him a lesson. To Rick, THIS MEANS WAR! Now Rick has set his mind on getting rid of Duncan and his gang. The two start battling back and forth including a high-speed chase and threats until Duncan screams at Latimer, "You come here tomorrow, you're going home in a body bag." The BATTLE HAS BEGUN!

Will Rick be able to get rid of Duncan and create a school out of Brandell? Can the Principal do it? Buy the principal and James Belushi will show what a Principal is all about.

Rating:
Summary: The Principal gets a bravo . . . a Rio Bravo! (me an idiot)
Review: In this wonderful reworking of Hawks' Rio Bravo, Belushi takes on both the role of the sheriff and of the drunk. This is the best of all of the 1980s faculty vs. evil student movies. Belushi towers in this film, giving a wondeful leading man performance which should have forever brought him out from under his brother's shadow. The film, like a lot of Hawks films, has the main characters trapped in a building and having to fight their ways out. Morales, Gosset and Rae Dawn give strong support. Though director's Cain's Young Guns was his most popular film on the decade, this was clearly his best.

Rating:
Summary: The Principal Is Your Pal
Review: Jim Belushi shines in this film. Lou Gossett and Rae Dawn Chong are strong as well. This film does bring together elements of drama, suspense, and comedy together very well. The drama of trying to reach out to the kids in the school. The suspense that hangs continually because of the threat of violent drug dealing students. The comedy comes from Belushi trying to put up with it all and make change happen. A worthwhile film and is worth checking out.

Rating:
Summary: The Principal Is Your Pal
Review: Jim Belushi shines in this film. Lou Gossett and Rae Dawn Chong are strong as well. This film does bring together elements of drama, suspense, and comedy together very well. The drama of trying to reach out to the kids in the school. The suspense that hangs continually because of the threat of violent drug dealing students. The comedy comes from Belushi trying to put up with it all and make change happen. A worthwhile film and is worth checking out.

Rating:
Summary: He's the principal,man!
Review: Rick Latimer(James Belushi) is a high school English teacher who is promoted to principal many years after applying for the latter position. So he is sent to Brandel High,which is unlike other high schools. Most of the students there are troublemakers. They've been permanently expelled from other schools. They're into drugs,commit violent acts and other highly intolerable activities. So Rick with the help of security guard Jake Phillips(Lou Gossett Jr.) shape up the school. Brandel's worst student is Victor Duncan(Michael Wright),who's heavily armed and tries to gain control of the school. One student who makes no trouble at all is Arturo(Jacob Vargas). Arturo has a mild learning disability whose teacher is Hilary Orosco(Rae Dawn Chong). At first Hilary didn't like Rick at all. At one point in the film he brings several of the troublemakers into Hilary's classroom. That's where Hilary says to Rick,"I resent you. I resent what you're doing!". In the opening scene,a drunken Rick demolishes the windshield,headlights and taillights of his ex-wife's boyfriend's car. The boyfriend is a divorce lawyer who represented Rick's ex-wife Kimberly. One Brandel student who straightened out was Emile(Troy Winbush). He was a member of Victor's dangerous gang and quit. In another scene,Emile crashes through a ceiling window,hanging by a rope. He ends up in the hospital and Rick visits him. Rick is so furious with Victor that Rick wishes Victor was in prison. Also there's Trina,who drops out after she's been busted for selling drugs in the restrooms. Rick tutors Trina. She willed to comply with the tutoring. Trina is an unwed mother with a small child living in a slum. Then Victor and his buddy go out to kill Rick. Rick,with Jake,beat the crap out of the mischievous pair and put them into police custody. Also,in another scene,Victor and his team disassemble Rick motorcycle,then beat the crap out of Rick(when Emile was a member). Arturo and his friends reassemble the bike and decorate it with Rick's helmet("El Principal" appears on the bike and helmet). Currently,Belushi is the star of the ABC sitcom "According To Jim". Gossett previously played the drill seargeant in 1982's AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN. Wright subsequently appeared in 1991's THE FIVE HEARTBEATS. Chong played C. Thomas Howell's girlfriend in 1986's SOUL MAN. Winbush later had a recurring role as one of Malcolm Jamal Warner's buddies on NBC's "The Cosby Show". Vargas subsequently appeared in 1995's GET SHORTY. Belushi's other films include REAL MEN,ABOUT LAST NIGHT,K-9,CURLY SUE,TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS,ONLY THE LONELY,RED HEAT and MR. DESTINY.

Rating:
Summary: James Belushi should have gotten an oscar for this...
Review: So then why do I only give 3 stars? Well, for one the movie was not as long as I hoped it would be and I also didn't care too much for the abrupt ending. Despite all that The Principal is probably the most realistic story of a man who even though has serious difficulty turning a trashy high school into a somewhat safer learning environment, manages to slowly succeed while firmly enforcing his rules. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie was based on a true story. I've seen movies like this such as Lean on Me, Dangerous Minds, High School High, and the Substitute but The Principal is the most realistic (not to mention more entertaining) film of the "Teacher vs. dangerous schools" scenario and I never seem to tire of it.