The Principal (1987)

Cast: James Belushi (Rick Latimer), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Jake Phillips), Michael Wright (Victor Duncan), Rae Dawn Chong (Hilary Orozco)

Director: Christopher Cain

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Drama

This is sadly an often forgotten film. It was released during the surge of academically centered films that were both sophisticated and emotional. They were similar to Hollywood’s lame attempts at writing about religion; territory they know nothing about. The Principal was an attempt by Hollywood to bring “awareness”- something Hollywood sees as a wonderful source of income- to audiences. In this movie, the generic problem of gangs and drugs in public schools was the product of awareness. And this movie really made the problem entertaining.
James Belushi (brother of the late, great funny man John Belushi) plays a frustrated-with-himself Rick Latimer. Latimer had screwed up his marriage, and put his teaching job at a middle class high school on the line after an arrest for attempted aggravated assault. Surprisingly, the school board decides not to fire him after his arrest. Instead, they give him a position in the school district which he had applied to before- a principal position. They tell Latimer that he’s the right man to take charge of Brandell High. The school is plagued with gangs, drugs, and students who were expelled from other schools with nowhere else to go. For Latimer, it’s either Brandell or unemployment.
As soon as Latimer arrives on campus, he gets a taste of what the Brandell student body excel in. He’s greeted that morning with a gang fight in the parking lot. From then on, he takes the school by its neck and decides he’s had enough screw ups in his life. Therefore, he makes one rule that all students must obey- “no more.” Latimer does everything in his power, regardless of any intimidation, to enforce this simple rule. If students of Brandell cannot be expelled, then he won’t let students expel him. He finds promise in some students, who otherwise don’t seem to have anyone who give “two cents” about them. With other students, it’s a matter of who rules the school. He comes to grips with gang leader Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) whose only reason to go to school is for territory.
John Belushi fits the role well. There aren’t too many movies Belushi is remembered for, if he’s remembered for any at all. This one, from what I’ve seen, should be a claim to fame for Belushi! It’s not Hollywood’s cinematic best, but it is entertaining.
Louis Gossett, Jr. plays Jake Phillips, the school’s head of security. He’s a man who had a taste of glory in a short lived pro-football career who ended up in his run down alma mater after an injury. Gossett makes the film believable. His character sees a small beacon of hope in Latimer after seeing so many principals before him come and go.
It’s hard to imagine a school as hopeless as Brandell. Each time I watch this movie, I wonder that if such a school as bad as Brandell exists or has existed, why would such terrible students, who could care less about the system, bother to attend?
This movie is realistic most of the time, but has a bit of over-dramatization here and there. It pulls the audience in right away and keeps interested until the end. I liked how it jumped right into the story without any long, drawn out explanations. It also did a good jump at explaining Latimer’s past without any over-emphasis or distractions from the plot. The sub-plots between a few students and Latimer fit nicely in place with the movie. However, the sub-plot between Latimer and history teacher Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) was completely unnecessary. What seems to be the beginning of a romantic interest leads to absolutely nothing. You would think that movie makers would be the first to realize that including dead-end subplots are a terrible thing to put in a movie. They might, somehow, add realism to a movie but they make movies verge more towards the realm soap operas. This case is certainly no exception. It left me asking myself, “What was that all about?”
The movie is one of those that I never get tired of watching. It’s a typical encouraging type of action/drama with montage and all. It’s not a family movie as some of the scenes are “thematic” (I still don’t know what that means! All I know is that these “thematic scenes” take away the family aspect from movies) and contains much language. My favorite part of the film is a scene when Latimer gets humorously sarcastic with a gang member who threatens him. Each time I watch it, I still try to figure out each main character. They all possess human realism as they all come from the same inner city background. If it weren’t for this, then the film would just be a typical Hollywood portrayal of a gang-ridden school- hopeless and nothing short of hell. I would give this flick 4 “El Principal” biker helmets.