What makes Morgan Freeman a great actor is that he is a great student of the people around him.It's that simple.Overall,this film is a bit overdone,as many of John Avildsen's films have been since that certain Oscar winner about the underdog boxer back in '76,but what makes this film at least reasonably good is the performance of Freeman.Very few are better at getting lost in a character than this man.It's based on a true story,about how renegade Principal Joe Clark,turned Eastside High School in Patterson,New Jersey from that "terrible cauldron of violence",to a respected institution of learning.He has his enemies, who disapprove of his unorthadox methods,and he must fight his way through them to succeed.If you love films with this typical underdog theme,it's definitely for you,but Morgan Freeman's performance alone is well worth the rental price.Good movie.
Review of Lean on Me
