Review: Lean on me movie

Lean On Me was released in the cinemas in 1989 and starred Morgan Freeman in the lead role. It is based on a true story of a New Jersey high school principal, Joe Clark who attempts to turn around one of the worst schools in the state in just one year.

Crazy Joe Clark

Overview
Confronted by waves of drug related crimes and violence he takes radical action that borders on despotism.
Armed with a baseball bat and a bullhorn, he utilises his Army background to face the problem head on.
Joe Clark
Joe Clark has one year to lift the pass rate at Eastside High else the school will go into state receivership.
On his arrival, he finds the school covered in graffiti, teachers terrorised and the premises awash with drug users and dealers. No shrinking violet, Clark uses tough discipline to win back control of the school and does not flinch from intimidating both students and staff to get his way.
If they fail to respond to his methods he expels them, in one memorable scene he does this to 300 students in one go. Morgan Freeman's portrayal of "Crazy Joe" Clark is mesmerising and as usual, his dignified screen presence is phenomenal.
The viewer is left in no doubt that Clark is the story here, not the school or students.
More information
Director John G. Avildsen's concentration on Clark's actions means there is very little screen time for the people he confronted.
Whilst this helps the film flow, the lack of an opposing view lessens the tension and makes Clark's job seem relatively easy, which must be far from the truth.

Artistic license

About artistic license
Whilst it is based on a true story, a certain amount of artistic licence was used in creating the Lean On Me movie. In reality, there was no threat of the school being taken into receivership and Clark was given two years to turn the school around and as a result the time line of events have been condensed.
Certain characters, including his nemesis, Mrs Barrett were created for the film and did not exist in real life.
Final word
But this was never meant to be a documentary and taking liberties with historical facts has long been a movie-making tradition.
The popularity of the film proves that the writers and director understood this and succeeded in bringing a remarkable man's life to the screen.