MOVIE REVIEWS : ‘PRINCIPAL’: CONFLICTS AT AN INNER CITY SCHOOL

One sad thing about many current movies is how much good material they chew up and destroy. “The Principal” (citywide) has one of the best subjects imaginable: tensions and conflicts at an inner-city “problem” high school. Yet, it doesn’t release those tensions, or use the conflicts honestly. Nor does it give a convincing sense of the teachers or students.

Instead, it degenerates into one more cliche-ridden revenge movie. At the end, when Jim Belushi’s character, Principal Rick Latimer, is stalked through his deserted high school by knife-wielding gang members--he might as well be Conan battling the barbarians.

Belushi’s character is potentially interesting: an incandescent hothead, assigned to Brandel, the worst “problem” school in town--the one to which all the other problem students are expelled. Belushi has the skills and moxie to give Latimer depth.

Latimer’s tactics are certainly bizarre--even for a hard-case school like Brandel. In between brawls and clubbings, we see Latimer’s soft, gentle, professorial side: dispensing fatherly advice--salted with comradely profanity--to intimidated smaller students, tutoring the school’s prettiest unwed mothers and batting his eyes at the sexy history teacher, Hilary (Rae Dawn Chong). One of the students he encourages, Raymi (“La Bamba’s” Esai Morales) apparently shows writing talent, and, after Latimer’s praise, he runs right out of the movie, never to reappear. Perhaps he’s off writing a screenplay.

Belushi has lost a little weight. There was a definite slob side to his two great performances last year--in “About Last Night” and “Salvador”--and, as Latimer, he doesn’t have as much heft or sass.

Lou Gossett has been saddled with a pointless sidekick part: as head security guard Jake Phillips, an ex-football pro, who shows up so seldom during trouble, you begin to wonder if he’s in the pay of the gang. Among the supporting roles, Michael Wright oozes charisma as gang leader Victor and Troy Winbush oozes amiability as the fat hanger-on, Baby Emile. Christopher Cain--a likable director who really needs better scripts than this--lavishes more care on visuals and staging, and tries to build up more big emotional moments than “The Principal” (MPAA rated: R, for language and violence) deserves. In this case, Belushi probably needs a few good meals, Gossett needs some more lines--and maybe Cain needs a baseball bat.