The Principal (1987)

"No more!"

Director
Christopher Cain

Cast
James Belushi - Rick Latimer
Louis Gossett, Jr. - Jake Phillips
Rae Dawn Chong - Hilary Orazco
Michael Wright - Victor Duncan

There was a bit of a "new teacher, tough school" trend in movies back in the 1980s - Stand and Deliver, Class of 1984, Lean on Me are a few titles that come to mind. Even Sister Act which came out in 1992 comes to mind, changing the scenario a bit, and spawning a sequel.
The drama, comedy The Principal starring James Belushi, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Rae Dawn Chong fits very comfortably in this motif.
I like this movie. I think part of the reason is that The Principal was filmed in my beloved hometown, Oakland, California - the "paradise" that wasn't always found on postcards. This movie can explain why. So, please pardon this bias.
Otherwise, it's overall entertaining - more of a drama than a comedy. It's one of those movies that would air on Saturday or Sunday afternoon movie presentations on channel 20 or channel 44.
The movie opens with high school teacher, Rick Latimer (James Belushi), at the bar trying to heal some wounds.
He spots his ex-wife, Kimberly, walk in with another guy whom he recognizes as her divorce attorney.
So much for healing those wounds.
Latimer reacts by jumping over the bar, grabbing a baseball bat, and chasing this other guy out of the place.
He traps him in his car, causes some property damage with the bat, and ends up at the police station.
Soon after, Latimer finds himself in a mandatory meeting with the school district. With his hand still in bandages from the incident at the bar, he knows his career is about to end.
But the unexpected happens.
Sometime earlier, Latimer put in an application for a principal position. And the school district offers him precisely that - at Brandel High School.
"Why am I not excited about it," Latimer responds to the job offer.
Brandel is filled with students kicked out from other schools. It's the last rung on the education ladder with nothing else underneath to catch them if they fall off. Despite the chaos inside its walls, and the thugs and gangs inside - that all seemed exaggerated to me - Latimer has no choice but to take the job. A tough man for a tough place.
I couldn't help wonder if some of these students are that bad, why do they even bother to go to school.
On his first day, before he even has a chance to park his motorcycle, he witnesses a gang fight involving a car crashing through the chain link fence heading straight for two guys running for their lives.

A fight breaks out, and Latimer intervenes.
He brings two of these kids into his office, never once asking if they're actually students or not.
He realizes right then just what kind of a place he's in.
After telling one of the staff to call the police, the question they ask is why?
"Cops'll only ask you why you stopped them," Someone replies.
Latimer is determined to make Brandel a real school, with successful students. When it comes to the gang activities, drugs, and all that Brandel is known for, he enforces one painfully simple rule - "No more!"
And despite being in a battle of wills between himself and a few students, which leads to Latimer getting severely beaten up by gang leader, Victor Duncan (Michael Wright), he doesn't let anything get in his way.
Head of security at Brandel, Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett, Jr.,) slowly gains respect for Latimer as he realizes Latimer is actually making some progress with students. Latimer is not all talk and looking to quit at the first sign of difficulty. He takes Brandel by the horns and isn't going to let this opportunity be another failure. This is his final chance.
Some of the bad behavior comes across as just a bit over exaggerated - students just sitting in hallways, high as a cloud, with no care in the world. What would stop these kids from not coming to school? But this is probably me being nitpicky.
The story really focuses on the principal's determination, with a few instances of students overcoming the odds in their respective difficult lives.
One student, Treena Lester (Kelly Jo Minter - Nightmare on Elm Street 5) is busted in the girl's bathroom for practically setting up a drug stand in one of the stalls.
After Latimer flushes her inventory down the toilet, he finds out she's going to drop out of school. So, he pays her a visit at her low-rent apartment to encourage her not to quit, and finds she has a child.
Rather than see her quit school, he decides to tutor her himself. And even though she gets Victor and his gang to beat him up, he still doesn't quit on her.
These side stories make the movie, though the bottom line is all about Latimer, and that's fine.
The suspense, excitement, and interest last throughout the movie, and it is an entertaining film. It also had some funny dialogue at times from Belushi.
It does bolster up the rough interior of James Belushi more than the students of Brandel. He's a tough guy, so he's a tough principal. But his character's influence on certain students as well as certain faculty members is different. 

Of course, a movie like this wouldn't fly today. A certain loud political side would call this a "white savior" story. It was filmed before President Obama set race relations back about fifty years. 
It's weak around the edges. Audiences have seen this motif over and over. There are really no surprises in this movie. Yet, it still holds itself up.


Coming up next... 
Have you ever asked yourself what movies Michael J. Fox starred in before Back to the Future? I did, and I found out he was in two other movies...and his first was a Disney film.