Review of Lean On Me (1989) by Patrick L — 04 Jul 2012

This movie opens from a historical perspective then goes forward to the "present day" in which a once proud school has fallen victim to vandals and drug dealers. A shocking scene, played out to "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses, shows violence between different ethnic groups and among those scenes is one of a young woman being ganged up on by other women of a different ethnic group and they literally tear her top clothing off of her before she escapes outside into the halls where others try to protect her from the violent ones.

Morgan Freeman gives a commanding performance as an unorthodox and very in control principal (who is under pressure to clean up the school and improve its academic ratings). He has a "take no prisoners" kind of style and manages to rile almost everyone he is in contact with but ultimately he does succeed in turning the school and the students around. 10/10.