Lean on Me (1989)A rousing movie about possibility and overcoming obstacles. It's an uncomplicated movie, telling in a linear way about the six month hard core reform of a very troubled inner-city high school. But it will make you feel good if you have any sentiment in you.Morgan Freeman is the newly installed principal with an idiosyncratic zeal that is perfect for this rough and tumble school. He tactics are severe—and seemingly heartless— kicking out hundreds of kids and punishing countless others for seemingly small offenses. But he certainly takes charge, and that was foremost. The students respond. Test scores improve.One of the messages here is still pertinent, and he puts it well to the whole group. If you are failing, it's not the fault of your parents, or the white folks. It's your fault. And so personal accountability is step one, then and now. The teachers seem mostly on target, though they get some abuse from his as well. (The chorus teacher in particular seems brilliant, but since she is teaching Mozart instead of the school song she is on the wrong side.) And so it goes, piece by piece, person by person.I say uncomplicated, but simplistic might be another word. This kind of reform must have been even more complex and stressful and painful than the movie shows—this isn't a documentary one bit. In fact, this is more of a fable, a kind of message driven tale of a man with a mission who overcomes the odds. That it's rooted in fact is only a small tweak to the larger point.

Lean on Me is certainly a film that gives an exaggerated version of tough love. It's a film about a high school principal who is dedicated for his students, but in the process, uses dictatorial powers to show his dedication. But this is a powerful film that shows a transformation from a school looking like a gang center to a school with high education results. There are not many films like these being made, so it's a treat seeing an inspirational film like this. The film itself may be a little outdated, but the messages still ring true even in today's world.John G Avildsen, known for his famous film Rocky, directs a film based on the true happenings of the East Paterson High School in New Jersey. Principal Joe Clark is brought in to save a school from completely collapsing. He expels the drug dealers and troublemakers and he chains the doors shut to keep the learners inside and the troublemakers outside....much to the disarray of the community.The acting is very good here. Morgan Freeman is one of the greatest actors Hollywood has ever had. This movie came out at a time before Freeman had his juicy roles, but this performance here is still top-notch. I may not agree with all the tactics Clark used to whip his school into shape, but Freeman does an excellent job in showing what a no-nonsense man Joe Clark was.Overall, Lean on Me is a very powerful film and is essentially a version of the old rags-to-rich tale, but here it's more of a dumb-to-smart tale. Led by a majestic performance by Morgan Freeman, this film is a must-see. Joe Clark was a stern man, but his sternness created glory for his school not seen in many years. "Lean on Me, when you're not strong. I'll be your pillow," as sung by the great Bill Withers in his classic song. I rate this film 9/10.

When the movie starts, we see Joe Clark teaching class at Eastside High School in 1967. His students are intelligent, well-groomed, and well-behaved. He quits because the teachers' union has sold out to the school board or something vague like that. Twenty years later, the school has become so bad it makes the one in "Blackboard Jungle" (1955) look like the Blackboard Tropical Rainforest. The students are the meanest, most vicious bunch of high-school hoodlums ever displayed on the big screen.Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention one more difference: all the clean-cut, intelligent students in the school in 1967 are white; most of the students in the school twenty years later are African American, with some Latinos, and a mere handful of whites. When I first saw this, I wondered if the movie had been produced by the Ku Klux Klan, because it comes across as a racist's worst nightmare. But, since the story is true, I guess those were the facts, and they just went with it. When Clark is asked to become the principal to help improve the students' test scores, I wondered how he could possibly do anything with them. Well, I don't want to take anything away from Clark, but not only does he have a bunch of security guards with him when he arrives, but on the second day, he also expels a whole bunch of students. Anybody could straighten out a school with dictatorial powers like that. Think how much Glenn Ford could have accomplished in "Blackboard Jungle" if he could have expelled Vic Morrow on the second day of class. Of course he succeeds with the remainder of the students, and all is well.Toward the end, a girl tells him she is pregnant. We never find out what she did about it. That way those who are pro-life can imagine her keeping the baby, and those who are pro-choice can imagine her having an abortion. Very clever, Hollywood.

The year is 1967. Joe Clark, teacher, preacher, and all around good guy, is doing his thing for the next generation. But then internal politics kicks him out of his school, and Joe Clark, teacher, preacher, and now oracle, predicts "this school will get what it deserves!" 20 years later... and we know it's 20 years later because there's a highly kitsch dissolve... the school has fallen into ANARCHY and CHAOS! There are DRUGS and teenagers are BULLIES and the teachers can't DO ANYTHING and everything has just gone to HECK! So the politics grinds its little gears and there's good ol' Joe Clark, principal, disenchanted educator, and lean mean fighting machine to COME BACK and set things straight! 'Course you know, people don't like him because he's a jerk and he yells a lot, and it's hard because politics is still grinding the gears and parents don't like their kids being treated like anything but total angels even if they're drug dealers, but, you know, that's just, like, the drama, and stuff.Pretty much this movie is split 50/50 between Morgan Freeman yelling in somebody's face, and campy 80s things like the world's worst montage and the titular song played--twice in a row, in fact! It's also entertaining beyond measure. The fact that they are willing to go as far as they are into the kitsch and the culture of it is just too much fun to describe! That's not to deny the power of Freeman's own investment in his character. Honestly, you want a good laugh, watch this movie. However, the entire overall "oomph!" of the thing... Wow! This is a real experience! --PolarisDiB