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- 1989
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 48 m
- 1989
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 48 m
Summary The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school and he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Directed By: John G. Avildsen
Written By: Michael Schiffer
- 1989
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 48 m
- 1989
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 48 m
Lean on Me
58
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch
Summary The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school and he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Directed By: John G. Avildsen
Written By: Michael Schiffer
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
58
54% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
46% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
58
54% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
46% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Audiences are apt to root for the film's Mr. Clark even when they aren't entirely enthusiastic about what he's doing. Much of this is attributable to Mr. Freeman's fiery and compelling performance, but a lot of it also comes from the director John G. Avildsen (''Rocky''), who has stacked the deck in every way he can.
Like most simplifications, Lean On Me's genially despotic approach has
its attractions, and it works fine as a movie. Simplification worked fine
in Rocky and in The Karate Kid, too, but unlike those essentially simple
films, Lean On Me oversimplifies a very complex issue. And unlike those
films, Lean On Me leaves one pondering the fact that, in real life, things
aren't ever simple. [9 March 1989]
The ability to subjugate everything to the story is both Avildsen's strength and his weakness. Lean on Me, with its warts-and-all hero, its driving rhythm, its carefully calibrated climaxes, is a finely tuned machine. It also happens to be a steamroller. [3 March 1989, p.Q]
Lean on Me wants to be taken as a serious, even noble film about an admirable man. And yet it never honestly looks at Clark for what he really is: a grownup example of the very troublemakers he hates so much, still unable even in adulthood to doubt his right to do what he wants, when he wants, as he wants.
Lean on Me is the type of cloying, crowd-pleasing drama you can't help but like - a little bit - even if its situations are contrived and its direction is stilted.
LEAN ON ME's manipulations justify Clark's drastic methods only superficially, by trivializing legitimate questions regarding Clark's actions.
User Reviews
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Production Company
Norman Twain Productions,
Warner Bros.
Release Date Mar 3, 1989
Duration 1 h 48 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Tagline Eastside High was out of control...until Joe Clark took it back.
Awards
Image Awards (NAACP)
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Nomination
