Lean on Me (film)

Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical 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, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being taken over by the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basics Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 Bill Withers song of the same name. Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

Plot summary

In 1987, the once successful Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, has deteriorated due to drugs and poverty. The majority of students cannot pass basic skills testing and not even teachers are safe from gang violence. Mayor Bottman (Alan North) learns that the school will be turned over to state administration if 75% of the students cannot pass the minimum basic skills test. He consults school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier, (Robert Guillaume), who suggests the school hire elementary school principal Joe Clark, aka "Crazy Joe" (Freeman), who was a teacher at Eastside High, as the new principal. The mayor is reluctant at first, but Clark is hired.