Jump to content

Lean on Me (film): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Undo 3 edits by 68.160.38.138.
SporkBot (talk | contribs)
Bots
1,244,869 edits
m Remove template per TFD outcome
 
(633 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|1989 film by John G. Avildsen}}
{{otheruses2|Lean on Me}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox_Film |
| name = Lean on Me
| name = Lean on Me
| image = Lean on Me (DVD cover).jpg
| image = Lean on Me (poster).jpg
| caption = ''Lean on Me'' poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| amg_id = 1:28673
| director = [[John G. Avildsen]]
| imdb_id = 0097722
| producer = [[Norman Twain]]
| writer = [[Michael Schiffer]]
| writer = [[Michael Schiffer]]
| starring = {{plainlist|
| starring = [[Morgan Freeman]]<br>[[Beverly Todd]]<br>[[Alan North]]<br>[[Robert Guillaume]]
* [[Morgan Freeman]]
| director = [[John G. Avildsen]]
* [[Beverly Todd]]
| producer = [[Norman Twain]]
* [[Robert Guillaume]]
| music = [[Bill Conti]]
* [[Alan North]]
| cinematography = [[Victor Hammer]]
* [[Lynne Thigpen]]
| editing = [[John G. Avildsen]]<br>[[John Carter]]
* [[Robin Bartlett]]
| distributor = [[Warner Bros.]]
* [[Michael Beach]]
| released = [[March 3]], [[1989 in film|1989]] (USA)
* [[Ethan Phillips]]
| runtime = 124 min.
}}
| country = United States
| language = English
| music = [[Bill Conti]]
| cinematography = Victor Hammer
| budget = [[United States dollar|$]]10,000,000 (estimated)
| editing = {{plainlist|
| gross = $31,906,454 (USA)
* John G. Avildsen
* [[John Carter (film editor)|John Carter]]
}}
| studio = Norman Twain Productions
| distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]
| released = {{film date|1989|3|3}}
| runtime = 108 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $10 million
| gross = $31 million
}}
}}


'''''Lean on Me''''' is a [[1989 in film|1989]] [[biographical]]-[[drama 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|Joe Clark]], a real life [[inner city]] [[high school]] principal in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], whose school is at risk of being overtaken by the [[New Jersey]] state government unless students improve their test scores. Morgan Freeman spent time with Clark to capture his mannerisms and sayings. Clark resigned as principal of Eastside High School the year after this film was released to become an author and motivational speaker. In August 1995, he was hired to run a juvenile detention center in [[Newark, New Jersey]]. Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in [[Franklin Lakes, New Jersey]].
'''''Lean on Me''''' is a 1989 American [[biographical drama film|biographical drama]] film directed by [[John G. Avildsen]], written by [[Michael Schiffer]], and starring [[Morgan Freeman]]. It is based on the story of [[Joe Louis Clark]], a real life [[inner city]] [[Secondary school|high school]] principal in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], whose school is in danger of being placed into receivership of the [[New Jersey]] state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 [[Bill Withers]] [[Lean on Me (song)|song of the same name]], which is used in the film.


=== Taglines ===
==Plot==
In 1987, the once idyllic [[Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey)|Eastside High School]] in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], has deteriorated due to drug abuse and crime running rampant throughout the school. The majority of students cannot pass basic skills testing, and even the teachers are not safe from gang violence.
{{Unsourced-section|date=November 2007}}
*''A true story about a real hero.''
*''Eastside High was a training ground for jail. Then Joe Clark took charge. Now his kids are getting their shot at something they never would have had: A future.''
*''An extraordinary problem calls for an extraordinary resolution. At Paterson, New Jersey's Eastside High School in 1987, that resolution had a name: "Crazy Joe" Clark. His answer? Don't lean on excuses, drugs, crime or anger. Lean on me, and learn.''


Mayor Bottman learns that the school will be turned over to state administration unless 75% of the students can pass the minimum basic skills test. He consults with school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier, who suggests they hire Joe Clark, a former teacher at Eastside High who was forcibly transferred years before, as the new school principal. Reluctantly, the mayor hires Clark.
==Plot summary==
[[Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey)|Eastside High School]] in [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]], [[New Jersey]], is plagued with numerous problems, especially those dealing with drugs and gang violence. Furthermore, the students are receiving low scores on the basic skills test.


Known as "Crazy Joe", Clark's immediate radical changes include expelling 300 students identified as drug dealers or abusers and troublemakers, instituting programs to improve school spirit including painting over 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 during school hours since funds are insufficient to purchase security doors.
After the principal (during the opening credits sequence) is brutally beaten by students, the mayor ([[Alan North]]) consults the school superintendent ([[Robert Guillaume]]), who suggests the school hire "Crazy Joe" Clark (Freeman) as the new principal. The mayor is reluctant at first, knowing about trouble Clark has caused in the past. But Clark is hired and things immediately get tense after Clark dismisses from the school hundreds of students identified as drug dealers or abusers. A meeting between the parents of those students and the academic board only fans the flames.


Clark's actions begin to have a positive effect on his students. He encounters Thomas Sams, a young student expelled for crack use, who pleads to be allowed back into school. Clark escorts Sams up to the roof of the school; there he viciously berates the boy for using crack. Nevertheless, Clark gives Sams one more chance to clean up his act and redeem himself or risk expulsion again. Clark also reunites one of his old elementary school students, Kaneesha Carter, with her estranged mother.
The next day, Clark runs into one of the expelled youths, Thomas Sams ([[Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins]]), asking to be let back into the school. In a dramatic rooftop scene, Clark gives him a sharp lecture but grants him a chance to turn things around. Another dismissed student manages to get inside the school and attack another student before Clark comes to break up the fight. Knowing he is breaking the fire code, Clark orders all doors chained and locked during school hours to keep drug dealers out. Also, the students show no improvement in taking a practice version of the basic skills test.


Some parents react strongly to these measures, particularly Leonna Barrett, the mother of one of the expelled students, who presses the mayor to oust Clark.
Clark does not put up with teachers who disagree with him either, especially those who do so in front of the students. One of his rash firings is reversed by the superintendent. Meanwhile, one parent, Leonna Barrett ([[Lynne Thigpen]]) aligns herself with the mayor in an effort to oust Clark. The fire chief eventually catches Clark not just with the school's doors chained, but conspiring to have the chains removed during surprise inspections.


Clark's radicalism brings him into conflict with his own faculty, notably Mr. Darnell, an English teacher, whom Clark suspends for picking up a piece of trash during a recital of the school song and Mrs. Elliot, a music teacher, whom Clark fires for being insubordinate after he cancels a long-planned choral event (the school's upcoming annual [[Lincoln Center]] concert). Napier lectures Clark over these incidents, demanding that he act as a team player; Clark subsequently re-instates Darnell.
Clark's arrest comes after a key scene involving Kaneesha ([[Karen Malina White]]), who remembers Clark from grade school. Clark is offering counsel about Kaneesha's unplanned [[pregnancy]] just before he is arrested.


Unfortunately, a practice basic skills test fails to garner enough passing students. Clark confronts his staff for their failure to educate their students, and to prepare them for the world. Clark institutes a tutorial program to strengthen academic skills; he also encourages remedial reading courses on Saturdays, so that parents may attend alongside their children if they want (or need) to.
That night, while Clark is in jail and the mayor is preparing to remove him, the entire student body converges on the Central Office of the [[Paterson Board of Education]]. They demand that Clark be released from jail and retained as principal.


When the day for the minimum basic skills test finally arrives, the students are much better prepared and filled with a sense of self-worth. Before the scores can be calculated, the fire chief raids the school and discovers the chained doors. Clark is arrested for violating fire safety codes. That evening, the students [[Protest|gather at the meeting]] of the [[Paterson Board of Education]], where Barrett, a newly appointed member of the school board, is leading the call for Clark's removal.
Eventually, Clark is freed from custody, and to good news: all the students have passed the basic skills exam. With that, Clark shuns both Mrs. Barrett and the mayor: "You can tell the State to go to hell!" Then Clark leads his students in singing Eastside High's [[alma mater]] (several scenes throughout the movie find Clark insisting that each student be taught to perform the school song on demand).


The students demand that Clark be released from jail and retained as principal. The mayor has Clark released from jail so that he may urge the children to return home for their own safety. He is interrupted by assistant principal Ms. Joan Levias, who reports that more than 75% of the students have passed the basic skills test. He announces the results over his megaphone.
==School song==

*Fair Eastside, by thy side we'll stand, and always praise thy name
As a result, the school's current administration remains intact. Clark is allowed to keep his job as principal, as he cheerfully informs the mayor that "You can tell the State to go to hell." The students celebrate by breaking into their school song. The film ends with the senior students, including Sams, graduating high school (amid the closing credits); Clark hands them their diplomas.
**And ever lend our hearts and hands to help increase thy fame
**The honor of old Eastside High brings forth our loyalty
**So cheer for dear old Eastside High! Lead on to victory!


==Cast==
==Cast==
{{cast listing|
{| width=100%
* [[Morgan Freeman]] as [[Joe Louis Clark]]
| valign=top width=50% |
* [[Beverly Todd]] as Mrs. Joan Levias
* [[Morgan Freeman]] – as [[Joe Louis Clark|Principal Joe Clark]]
* [[Beverly Todd]] – Mrs. Levias
* [[Robert Guillaume]] as Dr. [[Frank Napier]]
* [[Alan North]] – as Mayor Don Bottman
* [[Alan North]] as Mayor Don Bottman
* [[Robert Guillaume]] – as Dr. Frank Napier
* [[Lynne Thigpen]] as Leonna Barrett
* [[Ethan Phillips]] – as Mr. Rosenberg
* [[Robin Bartlett]] as Mrs. Elliott
* [[Lynne Thigpen]] – Leonna Barrett
* [[Michael Beach]] as Mr. Larry Darnell
* [[Michael Beach]] – Mr. Darnell
* [[Ethan Phillips]] as Mr. Rosenberg
* [[Sandra Reaves-Phillips]] – Mrs. Powers
* [[Sandra Reaves-Phillips]] as Mrs. Powers
* Sloane Shelton as Mrs. Hamilton
* [[Tony Todd]] – William Wright, Dean of Security
* [[Jermaine Hopkins|Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins]] as Thomas Sams
| valign=top width=50% |
* [[Karen Malina White]] as Kaneesha Carter
* [[Sloane Shelton]] – Mrs. Hamilton
* [[Karina Arroyave]] as Maria
* [[Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins]] – Thomas Sams
* [[Ivonne Coll]] as Mrs. Santos
* [[Karen Malina White]] – Kaneesha Carter
* [[Karina Arroyave]] – Maria
* [[Regina Taylor]] as Mrs. Carter
* [[Ivonne Coll]] – Mrs. Santos
* [[Michael P. Moran]] as Mr. Ed O'Malley
* [[Tyrone Jackson]] as Clarence
* [[Regina Taylor]] – Mrs. Carter
* Alex Romaguera as Kid Ray
* [[Jim Moody (actor)|Jim Moody]] – Mr. Lott
* [[Tony Todd]] as William Wright, Dean of Security
* [[Linda M. Salgado]] – Linda
* [[Mike Starr]] – Mr. Zarella
* [[Mike Starr (actor)|Mike Starr]] as Mr. Zirella
* [[Yvette Hawkins]] as Mrs. Arthur
* [[Reverend Herschell Slappy]] – Himself
* Nicole Quinn as Lillian
|}
* Elsie Hilario as Louisa
* Steven Lee as Richard Armand
* Michael Joseph as Brian Banes
* [[Richard Grusin]] as Mr. Danley
* [[Jim Moody (actor)|Jim Moody]] as Mr. Lott
* Raul Gonzales as Ramon
* Luz Tolentino as Conchita
* [[Delilah Cotto]] as Chita
* [[Michael Imperioli]] as George
* [[Marcella Lowery]] as Mrs. Richards
* [[Knowl Johnson]] as Tom
* [[Bruce Malmuth]] as the Burger Joint Manager
* [[Riff (American band)|Riff]] (Michael Best, Steven Capers Jr., Anthony Fuller, Dwayne Jones, and Kenneth Kelly) as the Eastside Songbirds
}}


==Production==
The cast of the film includes the reunion of former ''[[Benson (TV series)|Benson]]'' co-stars Robert Guillaume and Ethan Phillips.
Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in [[Franklin Lakes, New Jersey]].


==Music==
While some real-life students and teachers from Eastside High School appeared as extras in this film, most of the student extras where brought in from surrounding towns.
{{Anchor|Soundtrack}}
Songs included in the film include:
* "Eastside High School Alma Mater", written by Catherine Peragallo Miller
* "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]" by [[Guns N' Roses]]
* "I Ain't Makin' It" by [[Daddy-O (musician)|Daddy-O]] and [[Dead Brain Cells|DBC]]
* [[Lean on Me (song)|"Lean on Me"]] by [[Thelma Houston]]
* [[Lean on Me (song)|"Lean on Me"]] by [[Club Nouveau]]
* "Rap Summary (Lean on Me)" by [[Big Daddy Kane]]
* "[[You Are the One (TKA song)|You Are the One]]" by [[TKA]]
* "Skeezer" by [[Roxanne Shante]]
* "After 12" by [[Force MDs]]
* "All the Way to Love" by [[Siedah Garrett]]
* "Everybody Is Somebody" by RIFF, Teen Dream, and [[Taja Sevelle]]
* "[[Hit the Road Jack]]" by [[Percy Mayfield]]


==Reception==
Michael Best, Stephen Capers Jr., Dwayne Jones, and Kenneth Kelly (who portray the students that Clark forces to learn the school song on threat of expulsion) formed the R&B group Riff after their involvement in this film.
On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a rating of 68%, based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lean_on_me/ |title=Lean on Me |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=July 5, 2022 }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] the film has an average score of 58 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite Metacritic|id=lean-on-me|type=movie|title=Lean on Me|access-date=November 17, 2023}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>


==Accolades==
In the auditorium scene where Washingtons's character expels the students on stage, a young [[Michael Imperioli]] (of ''[[The Sopranos]]'') can be seen behind him.
'''[[NAACP Image Award|1989 NAACP Image Awards]]'''

* [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture]] – Morgan Freeman ('''won''')
Director [[John G. Avildsen]]'s son Anthony appears in the movie's prologue, as one of Joe Clark's students at Eastside in 1967.
* [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture|Outstanding Motion Picture]] ('''won''')

==Awards and nominations==
'''[[NAACP Image Award|1991 NAACP Image Awards]]'''
*Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture – Morgan Freeman(won)
*Outstanding Motion Picture (won)


'''[[Young Artist Awards|1990 Young Artist Awards]]'''
'''[[Young Artist Awards|1990 Young Artist Awards]]'''
*Young Artist Award Best Motion Picture – Drama (nominated)
* Young Artist Award Best Motion Picture – Drama (nominated)
*Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins (nominated)
* Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins (nominated)
*Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – [[Karen Malina White]] (nominated)
* Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – [[Karen Malina White]] (nominated)
*Jackie Coogan Award – Norman Twain, producer (nominated)
* Jackie Coogan Award – Norman Twain, producer (nominated)

==Factual accuracy and liberties==
With this being a movie, certain creative liberties were taken in regards to people's names and story lines. For instance, Mayor Bottman is representative of the mayor of Paterson at the time, [[Frank X. Graves]].{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Another would be that the main plot of movie, the school being on the verge of a take over by the state if the test scores did not improve, was untrue. There was never any threat of a state takeover of Eastside High, though the state designated the [[Paterson Public Schools]] district as an [[Abbott District]] in 1991, one year after Clark left, taking over its operations.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Paterson Public Schools was taken over by the State of New Jersey along with two other school districts. It remains under state control today along with being an Abbott district.

Though violence did decrease at the school during Clark's reign, the test scores did not significantly increase as depicted in the film.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} The auditorium scene where Clark expels the students did not happen, though on a single day during his first week at Eastside, Clark expelled 300 students for fighting, vandalism, drug possession, profanity or abusing teachers.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} He explains, "If there is no discipline, there is anarchy. Good citizenship demands attention to responsibilities as well as rights."<ref>[http://www.joeclarkspeaker.com/biography.htm joeclarkspeaker.com]</ref>

The scene where students protested when Clark was arrested and jailed never happened.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}

The character of Clark's nemesis, Mrs. Barrett, did not exist.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}


==Aborted television adaptation==
On September 13, 2018, it was reported that a television series based on the film was in development at [[The CW]]. The [[Warner Bros. Television]] project was written by Wendy Calhoun, with [[LeBron James]], [[Maverick Carter]], [[John Legend]], [[Mike Jackson (film producer)|Mike Jackson]] and [[Ty Stiklorius]] also set to executive produce. The female-led drama was to center around "when a spirited young black teacher [named] Amarie Baldwin scores the principal job at an [[Akron, Ohio]], public high school, she must dig deep to transform a failing campus into an urban oasis. In a time when education and school safety have life-or-death stakes, Amarie will take on a broken system that tests her mettle, love life and family. But can she keep her moxie in check in order to embody the aspirational educator that motivates and uplifts an entire community?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/lean-on-me-lebron-james-john-legend-produce-drama-inspired-film-the-cw-development-wendy-calhoun-1202464233/|title=The CW Developing Female-Led 'Lean On Me' Drama Based On Movie From Wendy Calhoun, LeBron James & John Legend|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=September 13, 2018|access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref> On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that the script was not picked up to [[Television pilot|pilot]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/the-4400-the-la-complex-reboots-good-christian-bitches-rolled-next-season-the-cw-2020-1202547931/|title='The 4400' & 'The L.A. Complex' Reboots And 'Good Christian Bitches' Rolled To Next Season At the CW|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=February 8, 2019|access-date=February 8, 2019|language=en-US}}</ref>


== See also ==
{{Portal|New Jersey|1980s|Film}}
* [[List of hood films]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikiquote|Lean on Me}}
* {{imdb title|id=0097722|title=Lean on Me}}
* {{IMDb title|0097722}}
* {{tcmdb title|81114|Lean on Me}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=lean_on_me|title=Lean on Me}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=lean_on_me|title=Lean on Me}}
* {{Mojo title|leanonme}}


{{Paterson, New Jersey}}
{{John G. Avildsen}}
{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lean On Me (Film)}}
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:Biographical films]]
[[Category:1989 drama films]]
[[Category:Coming-of-age films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:Drama films]]
[[Category:1980s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1980s coming-of-age drama films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s high school films]]
[[Category:African-American biographical dramas]]
[[Category:American coming-of-age drama films]]
[[Category:American high school films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of educators]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Films about educators]]
[[Category:Films about race and ethnicity]]
[[Category:Films about school violence]]
[[Category:Films directed by John G. Avildsen]]
[[Category:Films produced by Norman Twain]]
[[Category:Films scored by Bill Conti]]
[[Category:Films set in 1987]]
[[Category:Films set in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Jersey]]
[[Category:History of Paterson, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Race-related films]]
[[Category:American films]]

[[fr:Lean on Me (film)]]
[[it:Conta su di me (film 1989)]]

Latest revision as of 01:02, 22 December 2024

Lean on Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn G. Avildsen
Written byMichael Schiffer
Produced byNorman Twain
Starring
CinematographyVictor Hammer
Edited by
Music byBill Conti
Production
company
Norman Twain Productions
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • March 3, 1989 (1989-03-03)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million
Box office$31 million

Lean on Me is a 1989 American biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen, written by Michael Schiffer, and starring Morgan Freeman. It is based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is in danger of being placed into receivership of the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 Bill Withers song of the same name, which is used in the film.

Plot

[edit]

In 1987, the once idyllic Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, has deteriorated due to drug abuse and crime running rampant throughout the school. The majority of students cannot pass basic skills testing, and even the teachers are not safe from gang violence.

Mayor Bottman learns that the school will be turned over to state administration unless 75% of the students can pass the minimum basic skills test. He consults with school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier, who suggests they hire Joe Clark, a former teacher at Eastside High who was forcibly transferred years before, as the new school principal. Reluctantly, the mayor hires Clark.

Known as "Crazy Joe", Clark's immediate radical changes include expelling 300 students identified as drug dealers or abusers and troublemakers, instituting programs to improve school spirit including painting over 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 during school hours since funds are insufficient to purchase security doors.

Clark's actions begin to have a positive effect on his students. He encounters Thomas Sams, a young student expelled for crack use, who pleads to be allowed back into school. Clark escorts Sams up to the roof of the school; there he viciously berates the boy for using crack. Nevertheless, Clark gives Sams one more chance to clean up his act and redeem himself or risk expulsion again. Clark also reunites one of his old elementary school students, Kaneesha Carter, with her estranged mother.

Some parents react strongly to these measures, particularly Leonna Barrett, the mother of one of the expelled students, who presses the mayor to oust Clark.

Clark's radicalism brings him into conflict with his own faculty, notably Mr. Darnell, an English teacher, whom Clark suspends for picking up a piece of trash during a recital of the school song and Mrs. Elliot, a music teacher, whom Clark fires for being insubordinate after he cancels a long-planned choral event (the school's upcoming annual Lincoln Center concert). Napier lectures Clark over these incidents, demanding that he act as a team player; Clark subsequently re-instates Darnell.

Unfortunately, a practice basic skills test fails to garner enough passing students. Clark confronts his staff for their failure to educate their students, and to prepare them for the world. Clark institutes a tutorial program to strengthen academic skills; he also encourages remedial reading courses on Saturdays, so that parents may attend alongside their children if they want (or need) to.

When the day for the minimum basic skills test finally arrives, the students are much better prepared and filled with a sense of self-worth. Before the scores can be calculated, the fire chief raids the school and discovers the chained doors. Clark is arrested for violating fire safety codes. That evening, the students gather at the meeting of the Paterson Board of Education, where Barrett, a newly appointed member of the school board, is leading the call for Clark's removal.

The students demand that Clark be released from jail and retained as principal. The mayor has Clark released from jail so that he may urge the children to return home for their own safety. He is interrupted by assistant principal Ms. Joan Levias, who reports that more than 75% of the students have passed the basic skills test. He announces the results over his megaphone.

As a result, the school's current administration remains intact. Clark is allowed to keep his job as principal, as he cheerfully informs the mayor that "You can tell the State to go to hell." The students celebrate by breaking into their school song. The film ends with the senior students, including Sams, graduating high school (amid the closing credits); Clark hands them their diplomas.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

Music

[edit]

Songs included in the film include:

Reception

[edit]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 68%, based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[1] On Metacritic the film has an average score of 58 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[2] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.[3]

Accolades

[edit]

1989 NAACP Image Awards

1990 Young Artist Awards

  • Young Artist Award Best Motion Picture – Drama (nominated)
  • Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins (nominated)
  • Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Karen Malina White (nominated)
  • Jackie Coogan Award – Norman Twain, producer (nominated)

Aborted television adaptation

[edit]

On September 13, 2018, it was reported that a television series based on the film was in development at The CW. The Warner Bros. Television project was written by Wendy Calhoun, with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, John Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius also set to executive produce. The female-led drama was to center around "when a spirited young black teacher [named] Amarie Baldwin scores the principal job at an Akron, Ohio, public high school, she must dig deep to transform a failing campus into an urban oasis. In a time when education and school safety have life-or-death stakes, Amarie will take on a broken system that tests her mettle, love life and family. But can she keep her moxie in check in order to embody the aspirational educator that motivates and uplifts an entire community?"[4] On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that the script was not picked up to pilot.[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Lean on Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "Lean on Me". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  3. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  4. ^ Petski, Denise (September 13, 2018). "The CW Developing Female-Led 'Lean On Me' Drama Based On Movie From Wendy Calhoun, LeBron James & John Legend". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 8, 2019). "'The 4400' & 'The L.A. Complex' Reboots And 'Good Christian Bitches' Rolled To Next Season At the CW". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Lean on Me.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Lean_on_Me_(film)&oldid=1264443494"