Rent Lean on Me (1989)

Megaphone Morality - Lean on Me review by griggs

Who exactly are these redemption films made for? Lean on Me certainly has the raw ingredients: a true story, a failing school turned around, and a headteacher who became a local legend. But from the opening frames it’s obvious the school will be saved, and the jeopardy that might make it gripping is absent. The message is loud and clear, yet the film itself is fatally muted.

Morgan Freeman brings his usual gravitas to Joe Clark, the principal who in real life stalked the halls with a baseball bat, while the film emphasises a megaphone instead — menace traded for noise. Freeman does what he can, but the script gives him little beyond bluster, alternating between inspirational soundbites and authoritarian tirades. The pupils are largely reduced to clichés — troubled youths conveniently reformed by Clark’s stern charisma.

Yes, the school was saved, but the film never escapes its formula. Instead of nuance, we get sermonising; instead of drama, we get repetition. Lean on Me wants to inspire, but it ends up going through the motions, a story more admirable on paper than compelling on screen.