Review of The Principal (1987) by Tonypolito — 13 Nov 2010

One of the many "tough school" films to fall from the loins of 1955's "Blackboard Jungle," "The Principal" follows Belushi and wingman Gossett as they go to the mat to save their out-of-control urban high school.

To add suspense, the duo never even bring knives to their gun fights.

Chong plays the teacher that might (or might not) have enough sense to ski-daddle to a good prep school - as well as Belushi's tepid love interest ... of sorts.

This script almost certainly took its basic inspiration from the true story of New Jersey principal Joe Clark, whose story is more directly told in "Lean on Me," a film that debuted two years after this.

Clark wielded a baseball bat, chained school doors shut and dosed out tough love - just as Bellushi does here - and Clark was taking much press just about the time this script would have been under development.

Unlike the far superior "Lean On Me" however, which is solidly built on storyline and drama, this film employs a heavy dose of violence & gore - and, unfortunately, an inflammatory racial perspective - to bait the viewer along.

Belushi, Chong and straight-up students all score serious bloody face-bashings. Belushi irrationally decides his High Noon should be held in a maze-like room, in which he scampers and cowers about for several minutes, not as a hero, but as a rat toting only a bat. Not inspiring in the least.

Belushi probably hoped this would be his career-shifting dramatic vehicle, however his performance is barely adequate. Gossett and Chong apparently saw the graffiti on the wall - and so here are working only at paycheck-speed.

The best delivery actually comes from Wright as the Machiavellian kid-hoodlum-capo. Wright deserved a ton of future work, based on what's seen here.

RECOMMENDATION: Really only for teacher-genre completists.