The Principal (1987): An Underrated ’80s Action / School Drama Mash-Up
When hooligans and drug dealers take over an inner-city high school, who are you gonna call? If your answer is anything other than The Belushi, well, you’re absolutely wrong — as you’ll see as we revisit the very underrated action/school drama mash-up The Principal. Think Dangerous Minds with more fisticuffs and a few motorcycle chases thrown in for good measure.
James Belushi’s Rise in the Early Eighties
In the early eighties, James Belushi was on the rise. The brother of the late John Belushi, who tragically passed away from a drug overdose at the height of his fame, Belushi initially carved out a path somewhat different from his brother’s. While he followed John into Second City, his screen debut was in a straightforward dramatic role in Michael Mann’s Thief.
Following that, Belushi was enticed to join the cast of Saturday Night Live, where he had a somewhat undistinguished run — but who could blame him? He had to follow in the footsteps of his brother, who remains one of the most famous people ever to emerge from the cast. Wisely, Belushi returned to drama for a series of films released in 1986 that helped establish him as an actor on the rise.
First there was The Man With One Red Shoe, a comedy where he played Tom Hanks’ best pal, followed by a very well-received dramatic turn in Oliver Stone’s Salvador. Yet the movie that arguably put him on the map was Ed Zwick’s About Last Night, an adaptation of the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which James Belushi had acted in on stage. Ironically, his brother had turned down an earlier version of the film, not wanting to play the same role his brother had originated, believing that if anyone deserved it, it was him.
How About Last Night Led to The Principal
About Last Night was a solid hit, and Belushi earned rave reviews for his scene-stealing turn as Bernie Litko, the wisecracking best friend of Rob Lowe’s lead. The success was big enough that Belushi was given a chance to headline The Principal, a film that traded on the wisecracking persona audiences had begun to associate with him.
Plot Summary: Rick Latimer Takes Over Brandel High
In the film, Belushi plays Rick Latimer, a school teacher who, as punishment for a drunken bender in which he assaults a man dating his ex-wife, is made principal of Brandel High — a school notorious for being crime-ridden. It’s effectively lorded over by a drug dealer named Victor Duncan, who terrifies both students and staff. Rather than keep his head down, Latimer proves far more resilient than expected, attempting to reform the school by taking on Victor and his suppliers head-on.
Why The Principal Could Never Be Made Today
Now, let me say this first: there’s no way The Principal would be made today. Belushi’s Rick Latimer is a profoundly un-PC hero — a hard-drinking near-sociopath who demolishes his ex-wife’s boyfriend’s car with a baseball bat early on simply because he has a short fuse. Our first glimpse of him in a professional setting has him hungover, using binoculars to gawk at a teenage female student’s legs before telling her, as she leaves, “Linda, I want you wearing a bra to class.” So yes, Rick Latimer would absolutely be toned down — but damn if he isn’t fun to watch, with Belushi remaining highly engaging throughout.
A School Drama Shot Like a Cop Movie
While essentially a school drama, The Principal is shot and staged like a cop movie, with Latimer not far removed from the wisecracking action heroes popular at the time. He wakes up and starts his day by mixing chocolate milk with Coca-Cola (imagine the calories). His fridge contains sour milk, Coke, a mostly empty six-pack of beer, and a can of Spam. He rides a Harley, wears a leather jacket, and once he realizes just how bad the school is, becomes a one-man army — wielding a baseball bat and chasing down drug dealers on his motorcycle.
There’s even a scene where he saves a teacher from rape by riding his Harley into the school, up the stairs, and beating the hell out of the perpetrator, who is a delinquent student.
Supporting Characters and Sympathetic Students
Of course, The Principal’s heart is in the right place. Latimer is shown to be a genuinely devoted teacher and gains allies in the school’s hulking security officer (played by the late Louis Gossett Jr.) and a young teacher played by Rae Dawn Chong, who — unpredictably — does not become his love interest, though an attraction is clearly hinted at. Many of the rough students are portrayed sympathetically, shown to be victims of Victor’s drug-dealing gang.
The Villain Problem: Michael Wright’s Victor Duncan
Victor is played by Michael Wright as a full-blown sociopath, though the film arguably makes a mistake by casting him as a student. Wright was thirty at the time — only two years younger than Belushi — an old Hollywood trick meant to stop audiences from thinking of him as a teen. It also pushes the movie firmly into action territory, especially during the climactic fistfight between Latimer and Victor. By comparison, The Substitute with Tom Berenger almost feels realistic.
Box Office Performance and Cable Legacy
Even so, The Principal is super fun in an unmistakably ’80s way. It would never be made today, but Belushi is a compelling hero, and the film plays directly to his strengths. Reviews were rough, but it performed respectably at the box office, earning close to $20 million. While that doesn’t sound huge, remember it was a September release — then a dead zone — and it easily recouped its budget theatrically. On VHS and cable, it became a staple.
The Film’s Impact on Belushi’s Career
The film was produced by Tri-Star, then a new company with an output deal at HBO, ensuring heavy rotation. Director Christopher Crowe would score a legit hit the following year with Young Guns. As for Belushi, the film elevated him to leading-man status, with subsequent roles in Real Men and Red Heat. While Real Men tanked, Red Heat performed decently, if below expectations for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Belushi rebounded with a major hit in K-9 and spent much of the early ’90s as a B-list comedy leading man in films like Mr. Destiny and Taking Care of Business. He even reprised Rick Latimer in a tiny cameo in the low-budget sci-fi action movie Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe, which co-starred his wife at the time.
James Belushi Today
While his movie stardom eventually ebbed, Belushi always found work, including a long-running sitcom run on According to Jim. More recently, he’s leaned into character roles, delivering a menacing turn in The Whole Truth, appearing in Song Song Blue opposite Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, and popping up in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut The Chronology of Water. He also owns a very successful cannabis farm in Oregon — so yes, he’s doing just fine.
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