| The Principal (1987) Cast:James Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Michael Wright James Belushi stars as a teacher who is punished by being forced to become the principal of a school so infested with corruption that he gets attacked on the first day, of course Belushi himself is there for smashing his ex-wife's lover's car so of course he decides to clean the place up with his baseball bat that is, Louis Gossett plays Belushi's back up in this well acted and overall satisfying actioner. Before The Substitute series, there was The Principal. Indeed not only is this far more enjoyable but it also is more credible in setting up school as being actually realisitic, we buy that the school is real and because Belushi sells the concept, we buy everything that happens in this movie. Another reason to see The Principal is because of the performance of Louis Gosset Jr. who always has been an underrated actor but gives his role a tough swagger which easily rings believable. Along the way the sub-plots themselves fail to really get real momentum because after all they aren't very importiant to the action, what comes through though is an overall solid actionflick which delivers it exactly what it promises. D. Christopher Cain*** |