Lean on Me (film)

Lean on Me

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Produced by Norman Twain
Written by Michael Schiffer
Starring
Music by Bill Conti
Cinematography Victor Hammer
Edited by John G. Avildsen
John Carter
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
 March 3, 1989
Running time
 124 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million
Box office $31,906,454

Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical film written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. Lean on Me is loosely based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being taken over by the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basics Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 Bill Withers song of the same name. Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

Plot summary

In 1987, the once successful Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, has deteriorated due to drugs and poverty. The majority of students cannot pass basic skills testing and not even teachers are safe from gang violence. Mayor Bottman (Alan North) learns that the school will be turned over to state administration if 75% of the students cannot pass the minimum basic skills test. He consults school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier, (Robert Guillaume), who suggests the school hire elementary school principal Joe Clark, aka "Crazy Joe" (Morgan Freeman), who was a teacher at Eastside High, as the new principal. The mayor is reluctant at first, but Clark is hired.

Clark immediately effects radical changes. He expels 300 students identified as drug dealers or abusers and troublemakers. He institutes programs to improve school spirit including repainting graffiti covered walls and requiring students to learn the school song and be punished if they cannot sing it on demand. When one of the expelled students is found beating up another student, Clark orders the doors of the school chained shut since alarmed security doors cannot be purchased. Some parents react strongly to these measures including Leonna Barrett (Lynne Thigpen), mother of one of the expelled students, who presses the mayor to oust Clark. Clark likewise comes into conflict with members of the faculty, including Mr. Darnell, an English teacher who Clark suspends for picking up a piece of trash during a disciplinary confrontation, and Mrs. Elliot, a choir teacher who is insubordinate towards Clark after he cancels a pre-planned choral event.

Clark's actions do begin to have a positive effect on his students. Thomas Sams, a student expelled for crack use, pleads to be allowed to return to school and gradually reforms over the course of the film. Clark also reunites Kaneesha Carter with her estranged mother. Despite these efforts, a practice skills test results in another poor performance and he angrily confronts his staff for failing to educate their students and to prepare them for the world. He institutes a program to encourage remedial reading courses on Saturdays which parents may attend alongside their children.

When the minimum basic skills test is finally assessed, the students are much better prepared and filled with a sense of self worth. Before the results can arrive, the fire chief raids the school and discovers the chained doors. Clark is arrested. That night, the student body converges on the Central Office of the Paterson Board of Education, where the school board, led by Ms. Barrett, is voting to have Clark removed. The students demand that Clark be released from jail and retained as principal. In the midst of the protest, Clark calls for his students to return to their homes before being interrupted by his assistant principal, Ms. Levias, who delivers the results of the exam - more than 75% of the students have passed. He announces the results over his megaphone, prompting the assembled students to break into their school song in celebration.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 69%, based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[1] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

Awards and nominations

1991 NAACP Image Awards

1990 Young Artist Awards

American Film Institute recognition

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains- "Crazy" Joe Clark- Nominated Hero

References

  1. ↑ "Lean on Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 9, 2015.

External links

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