The school teacher Rick Latimer (James Belushi) is drinking with friends in a bar when he sees his former wife dating her lawyer responsible for their divorce. Rick smashes up the car of the lawyer, is arrested and the school board sends him to the notorious Brandel High School as an alternative to be fired. Without any other option, Rick moves and finds a school dominated by gangs with students rejected from other schools. He joins the students and tells no more for that situation. The chief of the security Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) believes Rick is crazy but soon he supports the principal attitudes. But the drug lord Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) is not happy with the new principal and promises to kill him.

"The Principal" is that type of movie for fans of films like "To Sir with Love", "Class of 1984" and "Dangerous Minds", where a teacher faces difficulties in a problematic high-school with the students dominated by gangs. James Belushi performs one of his best roles as Rick Latimer, a school teacher that has destroyed all opportunities in life and now has no other option but stay at the notorious Brandel High School. Louis Gossett Jr. is also excellent as the chief of the security guards in the dangerous high-school. The plot might be unrealistic in the present violent days but in the 80´s it would be credible. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Diretor Contra Todos" ("A Principal against Everybody")

I think my review title says it all about the James Belushi starring film, The Principal. It's yet another of those Blackboard Jungle inspired films now updated to the Reagan Era.

Belushi's a teacher with a really lousy personal life and after beating up on his ex-wife's boyfriend and trashing the car of same, he gets to spend a night in the clink. It's a good thing that teachers have some strict tenure rules or I'm sure he'd have been history and not taught it any more.

Anyway even though he can't be fired without all kinds of rigmarole he can sure be transferred from his nice suburban school to one toilet of a school in inner city Oakland. So Belushi's off to Brandel High School which is run by drug dealer Michael Wright and he's only got school custodian Lou Gossett, Jr. as an ally.

The teachers aren't crazy about him, they keep an uneasy truce and try to teach the ones that want to learn. One of them, Rae Dawn Chong is hostile, but she gradually converts.

Belushi's under pressure from above, he has to succeed or they will go through the laborious process of getting rid of him. Turns out he might just be what Brandel High needs.

Belushi and Gossett have a nice chemistry in their scenes together. Esai Morales is strangely underused, I have a feeling a lot of his performance was left on the cutting room floor. My favorite however is Jacob Vargas, a kid that both Chong and Belushi take an interest in.

The Principal is in a long line of similarly themed films from The Blackboard Jungle to Dangerous Minds. Entertaining enough with a lot of action for a school based film.

Divorced teacher Rick Latimer (Jim Belushi) gets into a bar fight with his ex-wife's boyfriend and arrested. His punishment promotion is the new principal job at the roughest school. Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) is security and Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) is a caring teacher. He has to battle student gang leader Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) and get single mom Treena Lester (Kelly Jo Minter) to return to school.

This is a white savior movie. It tries to be serious and tough. The kids are all at least twenty-somethings. It's violent but it never feels real. It's an unreal reality. Belushi is trying to do serious acting with limited success. He doesn't have it for this role. The movie gives an excuse for the absent of police but it would serve it better to have a few cops. There is no uplift nor any tension.