The Principal

Stars a renegade teacher (James Belushi) who, as punishment, he is made Principal of a high school where all the hardship cases from the other schools are relegated. It's long before he discovers a drug ring, implicating a nasty leader (Michael Wright), but first , to wage successful war, the class' respect has to be won. Naturally, he whips it into shape; along the way, the Principal is helped by a security agent (Louis Gossett Jr).

A decent action movie , though at times its unrealistic treatment sabotage a little the interesting story. You can sense Christopher Cain's sight of relief when he's finally able to launch into a blazing actioner with plenty of tension, suspense and violence. James Belushi at his best, he does justice to his role as a tough, down-on-his-luck high school teacher hired as the Principal of a relentlessly violent, uncontrollable high school. In addition, Louis Gossett Jr is very good as the school's security chief. And other youthful secondaries who will have acceptable cinematic careers, such as Michael Wright, Esas Morales and Jacob Vargas.

The Principal belongs to subgenre about the school violence, in which teenager gangs terrorize high schools, executing crimen, mayhem and murders, whose main representations are: "Class of 1984" by Mark L Lester , "Class of 1999", "Class of 1999 II", :The Substitute I,II and III:, and "Dangerous minds". And no forget the classic "Bloackboard jungle" 1955 by Richard Brooks, starring Glenn Ford.

The motion picture was well directed by Christopher Cain. This is a good craftsman who has made some hit films, such as: "The stone boy", "That was then...this is now", "Young Guns" , "September dawn", "The next karate kid", "The amazing Panda adventure", among others. "The Principal" rating: 6.5/10. Better than average thanks to James Belushi who's really terrific.

One of the things I like to ponder is what modern stars would fill the shoes of actors of the past or parts they played. For instance, if they did a remake of Bonanza, John Goodman would fill Dan Blockers shoes pretty well as Hoss, & I think Michael J Fox may be a passable Little Joe. Also of course, Cheryl Ladd did well as Grace Kelly. Some stars have been so one of a kind though that one would be hard pressed to imagine who would be up to the task. John Wayne is one such figure. While James Belushi may not quite have the physical stature of the Duke, his performance in The Principal comes the closest in my impression to reminding me of the "cut the crap" individualism of the screen legend. Public schools could probably learn a lot from this feature.

Of the many comedians of early Saturday Night Live who have gone on to movies, Belushi appears to be the one who has most successfully transcended the comedian stereotype. While Bill Murrey may do well as a comic role being serious, the few pictures I've seen James Belushi in suggest that he's more like a serious actor who's also funny.

Good feature for those of us who are tired of irresponsible youth getting a free pass.

James Belushi stars as a teacher with a short fuse who gets to become the principal of the roughest high school in the city. He turns out to be just what the doctor ordered and just what the students and employees needed. "The Principal" is a very violent film that could be best described as "Lean on Me" or "Stand and Deliver" gone stark-raving mad. Belushi is solid here and so is high school security guard Louis Gossett, Jr. in a supporting role. 4 stars out of 5.

The Principal (1987) was another star vehicle for James Belushi. This fun film is Blackboard Jungle mixed with Class of 1984. The film is filled with a lot of the minor stars of this era such as Lou Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Esai Morales and Kelly Jo Minter to name a few.

J.B.stars as a washed out High School Prep teacher who's personal life begins to fall apart. He snaps one day and his immediately canned. That is until he's given a second chance. He's appointed Principal at a local rundown high school. During his tour he plots out away to change not only the school but his own life around.

A nice movie in the vein of Lean On Me. Who am I kidding, this is a bone crunching exploitive film that features all of the things that we love about these type of movies. If this movie was made today it would be a P.G.-13 flick. Not a classic but a nice exploitive affair.

Recommended.

'The Principal' is one of those films where Belushi could have been nominated for Best Actor, and Louis Gossett Jr. for Best Supporting Actor...

The film has some great scenes, a good story and character development, and a decent soundtrack...

The film is pretty hard-edged, though has elements of comedy...overall - an under-rated film (ones which I love to review) worth seeing...

[7/10]