Let me just start by saying James Belushi totally kicks a$$ as Rick Latimer, a city school teacher, who one night, after drinking a few shots of alcohol, gets a bat and smashes up the car of the lawyer who is dating his wife, who represented her at their divorce trial. For his violent actions the night before, the school board offers him to be principal at Brandel High School. The other board members just cringe at the name. Rick doesn't take the offer lightly, but he has no choice. Once he gets to the school, he discovers that the school seems more like a prison than a school. He quickly learns that Brandel is actually the end of the line for kids who have been kicked out of all the other good schools in the district. Rick is p***** at the condition of the school and calls an assembly. At the assembly, Rick announces that he will enforce a new and painfully simple rule of, "No More." Rick says,"This means no more skipping class, dealing drugs, or whatever the hell it is you've been majoring in here, No More!" He is able to enforce this rule by forming a mediocre security team with the help of a janitor (Louis Gossett, Jr.) to help bring back order to the school. However, this does not look good in the eyes of Victor, a drug dealer who has set up in the school. He begins making threats to Rick, telling to get out of the school while he still has a chance.
James Belushi is what makes this movie worth watching. He's made this movie what it is. He cracks a few occasional jokes and does this well. I think The Principal started the whole teacher vs. Inner city school generation of films. Similar films like Dangerous Minds (1995), The Substitute (1996), 187 (1997), and High School High (1996), but The Principal, I think is the one that started it all. I give The Principal a 10/10 for being original and James Belushi.
James Belushi is what makes this movie worth watching. He's made this movie what it is. He cracks a few occasional jokes and does this well. I think The Principal started the whole teacher vs. Inner city school generation of films. Similar films like Dangerous Minds (1995), The Substitute (1996), 187 (1997), and High School High (1996), but The Principal, I think is the one that started it all. I give The Principal a 10/10 for being original and James Belushi.