High School High (1996) User Reviews

Decent spoof

[mattymatt4ever · 7/10 · 28 January 2002]

I've seen the movie about nine or ten times, so naturally many of the jokes--which I found hysterical at first--aren't that funny anymore. But I don't think they could've done a much better job at spoofing high school flicks like "Dangerous Minds," "Lean on Me," "The Blackboard Jungle" and "To Sir, With Love." There are lots of witty moments that hit the bullseye.

The jokes are not over-the-top, nor are they filthy and vomit-inducing like many recent spoofs. It's from the writers of "The Naked Gun" and the talent really shows.

Jon Lovitz is funny, like usual. Tia Carrerre has never looked hotter, and serves as great eye candy. Louise Fletcher is appropriately creepy as the principal, who is sort of like a female version of Joe Clark--she also roams the hallways with a baseball bat.

The young stars like Guillermo Diaz, Mekhi Pfieffer, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Brian Hooks are very good and their timing is just right.

I would probably praise this movie a lot more if I submitted this comment after my first viewing, but trust me--it's very funny! But, like many broad comedies of this kind, it's not as enjoyable on repeat viewings. After having seen the latest spoof, "Not Another Teen Movie," I'm able to appreciate this film a lot more. This is a spoof with wit and structure, and even has a few subtle in-jokes: the school is titled Marion Barry High. You get it?

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Predictable comedy.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 28 February 2003]

Although it was co-written by David Zucker, this comedy is more conventional than, say, the "Naked Gun" series; it doesn't have the same rapid-fire, relentless pacing. However, it does have a number of successful gags (when the teacher enters the ghetto area, his car radio will play ONLY rap music), and, of course, the gorgeous Tia Carrere....wow! (**)

"I know what's straight up booty."

[vertigo_14 · 5/10 · 6 March 2005]

Spoofing 'Dangerous Minds,' 'Lean on Me,' and others, Jon Lovitz stars in 'High School High' as an ambitious, optimistic teacher from a prep school who wants to prove to his father that he is perfectly capable of inspiring his students at an inner-city high school. While there, he inadvertently becomes involved in a turf war between two rival students and their idiotic posses.

Time capsule movie spoofs the mid 90s scene of hip hop has one gag after another, but is probably more destined for laughs for younger teenagers or first-time viewers. I caught this movie on cable after not having seen it in a few years and didn't think it was as funny as I first remember it. Best recommended for Jon Lovitz fans, as he always does well as the clueless doofus. With Tia Carerre, Louise Fletcher, Mekhi Phifer, and Guillermo Diaz.

Not Great, But Still Worth Seeing

[tgibbs279 · 13 April 2001]

Yes, I'll grant you this movie is less than perfect. The storyline doesn't always make sense. Not every joke works, but the movie's batting average is high enough to justify seeing it. And it's funnier to me than every Adam Sandler/David Spade/Chris Farley movie I've ever seen, in part because the three of them are nothing but annoying. Jon Lovitz, on the other, is a likable everyman you can root for. He carries the movie. Lovitz is an underrated comedian who always makes the material seem better than it is. His delivery and timing help make this movie enjoyable. And of course, Tia Carrere is absolutely gorgeous.

I'm not saying "High School High" is a classic. But I was amused by it. Like any Zucker production, the gags come fast and furious. They don't all work, but enough hit the target to make it worth seeing.

horrible

[ukrainetrain · 2/10 · 7 August 2000]

I would have to say the highlight of this movie was the drunk guy at the end of my row puking about halfway through. Jon Lovitz was at his annoying worst and the rest of the cast was completely unfunny. This is an hour and a half of my life that I will never have back and for that I am truly sorry.

Verdict is in...underrated Dud

[ThunderKing6 · 7/10 · 16 January 2021]

HSH. HSH is one of those it looks crappy, with a story that is mind boggling, yet when it ends you realize this stupid movie was really good.

Its about a short principal of a high crime high school. He is passive, wimpy and eventually falls in love with a teacher and yeah!

This movie has tons of mind boggling comedy moments that make you go WOW?!

The acting is hit and miss with many actors. Nevertheless, if you need a stupid fun movie to watch HIgh School High is your go to guy. Just don't take it seriously.

Verdict: Class Party.

"Dangerous Minds" for chimps (minor spoilers)

[conspracy-2 · 4/10 · 21 May 2000]

I know it's supposed to be a spoof of "Dangerous Minds". But it goes overboard. It doesn't only spoof the film, it tries to be a film in its own right. And it's not.

Jon Lovitz plays Richard Clark, the Michelle Pfeiffer character. He is a high school teacher, who chooses to go teach in a baaad school full of baaad people, a real Gangsta's Paradise. Does this sound familiar? After winning the students' respect by flying away with the detached hood of a convertible (really!) he proceeds to inspire them for about two minutes as a teacher, and then he goes back to being a jerk.

Because Richard Clark goes beyond bumbling and into the realms of being completely and stupidly oblivious. It's supposed to be a farce, but even in the farcical frame it's unbelievable. No mean feat, really.

The love interest between Richard Clark and Victoria Chapell(Tia Carrere) was obviously written by the unsuccesful partnership between an 8-year-old girl and a wife-beating pervert. It doesn't really go anywhere, anyway, except for a toe-curling, cringable groan-a-thon of a sex scene.

The movie rolls along steadily until about half an hour is left of the film. That's when the writers seem to have run out of ways to make you groan within the framework of the film and decided to throw in a drug dealing ending that comes completely out of left field. It's supposed to be surprising and plot-twisting, but at this time no-one really cares about any of the characters anyway.

One more thing. When Richard Clark arrives at the high school the first time, the writers (reject writers from Mad Magazine, by the look and feel of it) spend a disproportionate amount of time convincing us that this school is baaad. But, as Richard Clark has taught there for some time, the school starts smartening up. Suddenly, there is less grafitti and plants in the halls. More and more, until at the end it's a beautiful, completely restored high school. How does this happen? Where did the moeny come from, and who OKed it? Not miss Doyle, that's for dahm sure. This could, arguably, be an expressionistic metaphor for the growth and development of Richard Clark. I don't believe this, though, for two reasons: a) What growth? b) This movie is nowhere near intelligent enough for that.

An unconventional setting for an "Airplane" kind of spoof

[Gideon24 · 6/10 · 9 December 2015]

Fans of comic satires like Airplane! and Naked Gun should find themselves right at home with a 1996 comedy called High School High.

The film stars Jon Lovitz as Richard Clark, a teacher at a well- known private school run by his father, who, in order to get out from under his father's thumb, decides to take a job teaching at Marian Barry High School, a tough inner-city high school where most of the students are barely literate. The simple story finds Clark working to raise the GPA's of his students in order to win a citywide school contest while pursuing romance with an attractive co-worker (Tia Carerre).

This film takes pot-shots at films like The Blackboard Jungle and Dangerous Minds, but does it in an outrageous way, but that is to be expected from a film like this. As a matter of fact, David Zuker, one of the geniuses behind Airplane! was one of the contributors to the screenplay here.

As expected, the gags come fast and furious and Lovitz plays his role with just enough of a straight face that makes most of the silliness going on around him funnier than it should be (though Lovitz is no Robert Hays). There are some fun supporting turns from Louise Fletcher as the hard-nosed school principal, Mekhi Pfifer as a troubled student, and Guillermo Diaz as a gang leader, but it is the lightning-swift tempo of the comic gags that keeps this one relatively entertaining for most of its ride.

Very very very unfunny

[redkiwi · 1/10 · 22 July 2001]

This film is utterly terrible on all fronts, and it is remarkable that it was made at all being as unfunny as it is.

This is clearly an attempt to be a slapstick film in the mode of Airplane. There's a difference - Airplane was original and funny, and had talented actors in it.

At least Tia Carrere was nice to look at as usual.

Underrated High

[miskimees · 6/10 · 29 May 2009]

High School High is a very decent spoof comedy written by comedic geniuses Pat Proft and David Zucker. You recognize all these ordinary high school dramas like Dangerous Minds, The Substitute, High School Confidential and many others. And off-course there's many very absurd scenes that is very common to screenplays by Zucker.

Also you can enjoy performance of Jon Lovitz. His character Richard Clark isn't stupid and clumsy like we know all Leslie Nielsens characters but just naive. At the same time Lovitz doesn't leave a strike that he is taking it all too seriously. Louise Fletcher's and Tia Carrere's performances were in full seriousness at the same time. They both played like in usual roles in usual high school films.

High School High is a bit underrated but might not be as brilliant than the other films by Zucker/Craft but still it has it's moments.

A spoof with a number of mildly amusing parts and a good comedian in the starring role, but it still isn't really that high

[Beta_Gallinger · 5/10 · 3 October 2010]

It wasn't until fairly recently when I first knew this 1996 comedy existed. It's a parody of movies about teachers who get jobs at corrupt schools and try to make a difference. I was only ten years old when this came out, and it's a PG-13 rated film. When I first came across a copy of it in the video store over a decade later, I saw that the lead role was played by Jon Lovitz, a comedian I was familiar with. The film was also written by David Zucker, Robert LoCash, and Pat Proft, and I had previously seen comedies which they were involved in. Before seeing "High School High", I knew it wasn't a very popular spoof movie, but there was still a chance I could find laughs in it, especially with Lovitz in the starring role, and I did. However, unsurprisingly, most of these laughs were small ones, and in the end, I was not left very pleased by the movie.

Richard Clark is a teacher who leaves Wellington Academy with another teaching job waiting for him at Marion Barry High School. Unfortunately, he quickly learns that working here will not be a pleasant experience, as this is a very dangerous school full of crime, where the students in general are deeply troubled and constantly get poor marks, and it doesn't look like they have a bright future ahead of them. After arriving at the school on his first day, Clark soon meets the hotheaded principal, Evelyn Doyle, and his first conversation with her turns out to be an embarrassing one, but he then meets an administrative assistant named Victoria Chapell, and falls in love with her. Despite how much trouble Clark's class puts him through, he remains determined to somehow guide them in a different direction, and has his new girlfriend to help him, but obviously, he's going to face more than one problem along the way!

Around the time I started watching this high school movie spoof, I certainly wasn't always keeping a straight face, but it didn't exactly look that promising. The first part that made me laugh fully might have been the protagonist, on his first day teaching at Marion Barry High, getting rivals to shake hands in the hall, and unfortunately, not too many gags made me laugh that hard after that. There are some fairly unimpressive sight gags and I didn't really like most of the characters. There certainly were a number of scenes that made me at least smile or laugh just a little, which may not have been the case without a talented comedian like Jon Lovitz in the starring role, and eventually found at least one touching moment. For this, I feel I COULD be giving "High School High" a 6/10 instead of a 5, but definitely no higher than that. I won't advise people to avoid this movie at all costs, but can understand why it doesn't even come close to having the same kind of reputation as "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun".

You're Gonna Lovitz

[gavin6942 · 8/10 · 4 January 2006]

Jon Lovitz is possibly the most under-rated Saturday Night Live alumnus. While Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and others have gone on to bigger things, Lovitz has primarily been background fodder for the other ex-cast members. And he's good at this, but he's also good on his own - as this movie proves. High School High was the best school movie parody of its time (before "Not Another Teen Movie"), taking "Dangerous Minds" and making a plot we should actually care about and enjoy. And we also have Tia Carrera (not to be confused with Asia Carrera).

Lovitz plays a history teacher who wants to turn a school full of unwanted students into a fleet of tomorrow's best and brightest. With help from his street smarts and an intense chicken race scene, he might just accomplish his goals. But, oh no, what happens when a rival gang steals the tests or the class valedictorian turns to dealing drugs? You're just going to have to watch and see. Recommended (unless you don't like Lovitz, but then you have no sense of humor anyway).

Better than 95% of the similar parodies "National Lampoon" spits out ..................

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 4 April 2011]

John Lovitz is very likable and very funny in this spoof of an inner city high school. The story is familiar, new, naive, fish out of water teacher, is eventually accepted because of his commitment to his students. "High School High", like most spoofs is a hit or miss affair. Some of the gags fall flat, but the film totally redeems itself with several hilarious moments. Stereotypes are on parade, but that of course is the purpose of a spoof, and things move rather quickly, so even the misses are easily forgiven. John Lovitz carries the film, but the supporting cast is quite good also. Bottom line, this is better than 95% of the similar parodies "National Lampoon" spits out, and is recommended of it's type. - MERK

Unfunny Folies

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 6 September 2013]

The zany rude humor that whipped up gales of laughter in the riotous "Naked Gun" trilogy wanes in the shallow but mildly funny "High School High," a spoof of recent high school sagas such as "Dangerous Minds" and "The Substitute." Scenarists David Zucker of "Airplane," Robert LoCash of "BASEketball," and Pat Proft of "Brain Donors" aren't as successful with this half-baked entry. The comedy in "High School High" seems virtually colorless. Although it boasts more jokes per screen minute than "Airplane" and "Top Secret" or the "Naked Gun" trilogy, this production manages at least to amuse, even though it cannot intoxicate.

Weasel-faced comedian Jon Lovitz of "City Slickers 2") plays Richard Clark, a sympathetic but naïve educator who quits teaching history at a 'rich kids' academy to work in a poverty stricken ghetto school. Clark gets more than he bargained for at the inner city Marion Barry High School. No sooner has he climbed out of his car than the same vehicle mysteriously vanishes. Initially, Clark is blind to the rampant crime, gang, and drug problems afflicting the school. He is horrified to see Principal Evelyn Doyle (Louise Fletcher of "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest") hitting students with a baseball bat.

While Clark fumbles with his own foes, Griff McReynolds (Mekhi Phifer of "Clockers") is coming back to finish school after a year in juvenile detention. McReynolds wants to go straight, but a gang of drug runners refuses to let him off the hook. Before these bad boys can convert McReynolds to their cause, they have to discredit Clark. Word-plays and sight gags constitute the best of what little comedy punctuates "High School High."

The funniest scenes include a send-up of the Russian roulette duel in "The Deer Hunter," an attempted rape in the school library, and Clark's rain-splattered expulsion. Actor-turned-director Hart Bochner concerns himself more with the plot turns than the humor. Bochner doesn't develop his mise-en-scene as imaginatively as Zucker did in his "Naked Gun" movies. Zucker exploited every inch of a scene, with gags on the periphery.

When Bochner tries to imitate Zucker, he fails miserably at the task. Bochner shoots the background out of focus where the action occurs so audiences have a hard time spotting students failing down stairs because they wear their pants too low. Blaming Bochner entirely for these shortcomings in this marginal comedy would be to overlook the writers' slack contribution. Indeed, "High School High" features a couple of truly inventive gags, but the movie suffers because there is not enough funny stuff.

The writers stretch jokes and ides far beyond their limits, and "High School High" looks like a labored sit-com. The cast performs with deadpan brilliance, but their characters are rarely inspired or loony. Zucker, LoCash, and Proft should be ashamed that it took three of them to pen what little drivel "High School High" has.

good flick, better in spanish

[sendtownjose · 3 May 2003]

I know you guys are going to consider me weird, but I liked this film better, in spanish, because, for me it was more funnier. I thought the slapstick comedy was good and jon lovitz was an excellent actor pretending to be a gangsta, but this acting did not top his days on snl as my favorites, the actor, the anonymous liar, and the devil. Tia carrere is not so hot as the others users described her, and this was mekhi phifer first film, before becoming future in 8 mile. It was an ok film, one of those that you watch when you are bored. This is another film of the worst period of films in hollywood 1995-1996. My favorite part was when everyone was surprised to see a book, and they started smelling it.

Some things don't go together

[jfgibson73 · 5/10 · 21 January 2010]

High School High is a comedy that seems to pull in several directions. On one hand, it wants to be a traditional Zucker-Abrams-Zucker movie, with surreal, non-sensical gags coming at every moment. These movies, like Airplane and Scary Movie are more like cartoons, because they never for a moment resemble real life. You don't end up caring what happens to the characters. On the other hand, it wants to be serious at times, like many romantic comedies, where you get emotionally invested with the people and the story. These two styles don't cohere.

I guess the problem is that the movie does too good of a job getting you to like the characters and wanting them to succeed. Jon Lovitz as a dedicated teacher who turns his community around was halfway believable. As I stated earlier, however, parts of the movie seem to clash with each other. They are just too different in tone. The formulaic ending doesn't help much either. I enjoyed High School High, and there are PLENTY of genuinely funny moments. I just think they needed to decide what kind of movie they were making and stick to it.

Jon Lovitz at his best

[Agent10 · 6/10 · 13 August 2002]

Jon Lovitz stars in a movie so bad, it had to go under my label of `brilliant stupidity,' which is a good thing by my standards. Not only was the humor great, the jokes in the film proved to be funny without the overabundance of potty jokes and bodily excrement. There are so many great moments to high light in this film, and it hits its marks pretty most of the time. Tia Carrere was also good in this film, being out of place yet ravishing in her role. One of those films you need to watch with friends or when drunk, or both.

KiNdA gOoD kInDa NoT

[ShortCuteBlonde · 3/10 · 24 August 2002]

This movie was alright, i wouldn't watch it again but it was okay, some people thought it was great and some people thought it was the stupidest movie in history but i disagree with both sides of the story. It was funny in some parts and Jon Lovitz is a great comedy actor but needed some work in this movie

A Puerile Parody of Predictable Proportions

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 19 December 2014]

Jon Lovitz uses his clueless schmuck persona to play a new teacher at the prototypical inner city school, where violence and disorder are the order of the day. The film is a parody of all the idealistic-teacher-saves-the-bad-kids movies. Part of the fun is to identify the film references as they occur, so I will not list them here. Actually, this film also contains references to many other (mostly teen) movies.

Don't expect Bergman or Scorcese. The humor is low brow and the sight gags are predictable. But the film is playful. And its predictability is part of the fun, as it recreates iconic moments in teen films and gives them a silly twist.

If you like "Airplane", this film may be for you. If you prefer "The Seventh Seal", you don't know who Jon Lovitz is, do you?

One to pass on

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 25 September 2020]

High School High casts Jon Lovitz who works at a posh prep school where the headmaster is is father Jon Neville. Seeking a challenge he changes cultures from that world to inner city Marion Barry high school. It ain't what he's used to.

Still somehow he breaks through although God only knows how and principal's assistant Tia Carrere although what she sees in him we can only guess. But the story is far from ver.

The fabled Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Louise Fletcher is the principal of Marion Barry. Changing professions fro medicine to education hasn't changed her personality. You have no idea what she does for a sideline.

The comedy is low brow and lame. But at one point it becomes offensive. I don't think rape is really a subject for humor and when bad kid Guillermo Diaz tries to rape Carrere and the attack is fended off it wasn't al that funny. I don't think too many women would find it funny, in fact it's offensive.

This one is one to pass on.

A high school spoof movie

[The-Sarkologist · 7/10 · 28 September 2012]

I think that if I approach a movie full of cynicism then I will probably enjoy it much more than if I do not. In the case of this movie, High School High, I expected it to be as stupid and as sucky as was Spy Hard, which is in a similar vein. I guess the difference here is that this movie is made by the same people who created Hot Shots and Flying High.

Highschool High is a send up of movies about rough highschools where a dedicated teacher comes along and changes all of the students around. Such movies I have seen in vague memories, and one that comes to mind is The Principle. Basically the major character is the son of the principle of a prep-school, but the students hate him. He decides that he wants to go out on his own and takes a job at Berry High (the joke becomes apparent at the end of the movie) which is the roughest school in the States.

I guess the theme of this movie is you can do anything if you put your mind to it, and just because society says that you are something, does not mean that you have to fall into that mould.

The humour is simply taking the believability to the point of stupidity. I will not say absurdity, as that is a particular type of humour where one laughs at the pointlessness of life. It is a far more intelligent humour, and for an example of absurd humour, I would direct you to a French Movie called News from the Good Lord. In this movie, the humour is far less intelligent, and is aimed at the lowest common denominator. I am not saying that the humour is bad, just that it is not intelligent.

This is an okay movie, and I would simply say that it is only worth watching to shut ones' mind off.

Lock This Film in Detention.

[anaconda-40658 · 2/10 · 25 December 2015]

High School High (1996): Dir: Hart Bochner / Cast: Jon Lovitz, Tia Carrere, Mekhi Pfifer, Louise Fletcher, Malinda Williams: The sight of bagged liquor bottles dispensed through soda machines is the one brief sight joke that works in this failed formula crap. Tired of his old school, teacher Jon Lovitz accepts a position at an inner city school where his car is stolen but his steering wheel lock remains. His classroom consists of loose floorboards and walls that cave to staples. None of this is very interesting although director Hart Bochner has timing on his side. Despite his efforts Lovitz is unable to elevate his role above conventions. His role is cardboard and by the numbers as he struggles to find a technique to reach these students. Tia Carrere is wasted as another teacher. She is basically there to provide a possible love interest. Louise Fletcher plays the principal as a homage to her role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but to a lesser degree. Mekhi Pfifer plays a student seeking opportunity but the role is never funny. Malinda Williams plays his cardboard girlfriend. This pushes a potential message of hard work and study that all but drains any remaining humour possibilities. It makes fun of the education system but for a superior high school comedy check out Fast Times at Ridgemont High and tossed this failed comedy in the detention room. Score: 2 / 10

This spoof is a odd mix of funny moments and a message of for those you want an education.

[hu675 · 8/10 · 30 December 2005]

A naive but dedicated educator (Jon Lovitz) decides to teach at the roughest high school in L.A. and once he arrived at this new job, he finds out the conditions at this school is tough, violent and students don't want to know anything about higher education. This educator befriends with an beautiful teacher (Tia Carrere) and an student (Mekhi Phifer), who wants an education. But this student has troubles with his previous gang members, especially with the leader (Guillermo Diaz). Who still wants him to sell drugs on the streets. This educator also has trouble with passionless principal (Oscar-Winner:Louise Fletcher) but he finds a way to teach his most unlikely students and giving them hope for education, which they never had before.

Directed by Canadian actor:Hart Bochner (PCU) made an amusing comedy that spoofs films like "Dangerous Minds", "Stand and Deliver", "The Deer Hunter" and other memorable films. Lovitz is extremely likable and he has some very big laughs in this silly comedy. Although this comic spoof is unusually realistic at other moments also. The film has an good message for any students for those who wants an education and to have a bright future but it is also hard, what it's wants to be. Ambitious to be sure but always watchable. Written by David Zucker (Airplane!, Baseketball, Ruthless People), Robert LoCash (CB4:The Movie, Naked Gun 33 1/3:The Final Insult) and Pat Proof (Hot Shots 1 & 2, Bachelor Party, Police Academy). (*** ½/*****).

Simple story, cheap laughs

[Rumples · 6/10 · 11 February 1999]

This movie isn't bad, and it has some chuckles in it, but in the end this film simply couldn't sustain the joke. Ok, there was room for a school satire, but there were already gaps showing in the comedic fabric and the movie ran for less than 90 minutes. I am quite a fan of Jon Lovitz and he does his part reasonably well. The lovely Tia Carrere also performs well (although that ain't saying much with her intensely stupid role), but their individual talents can't save this flick from inanity. Don't fork out any money to see this film. My vote 6/10 and it was lucky to get it.

Thin Line Between Spoof And High School High Life

[CitizenCaine · 5/10 · 14 January 2004]

Jon Lovitz stars as a sweetly idiotic idealistic teacher, who thinks he can make a difference at a troubled inner city high school with its own cemetery, no less. Tia Carrere is on hand to provide eye candy in the form of an impossible-to-believe love interest. Mekhi Phifer and Malinda Williams are the high school kids that Lovitz could lose to the gangs. They are both fine and provide more interest to watch then what else goes on at times. The problem with some spoofs, as with this one, are that the gags are sometimes too close to reality. In some cases, so much so that the gags lose their bite. A bumper sticker that says, "proud parent of a D average student" is one such case. It's very funny until you realize how true it has become in today's world. My favorite bit was the protective chicken wire fence between Lovitz and the students, but again it's uncomfortably close to reality in certain schools. The weapons bit too is another example. The first half of the movie was pretty funny and consistently enjoyable, but then the second half deteriorates into a mishmash of scenes that are out of sync with the times (like the drag race), or plot turns that are out of sync with the tone of the film (like the drug plot). I thought the drag race sequence was entirely dated and served no purpose. Then again, David Zucker-affiliated material is so broad at times that you almost expect these kind of disappointments. It's hard to tell what the movie is trying to do or where it's going, as written. It makes the mistake of trying to come out with a happy ending, as if it were a genuine movie made about high school life. John Neville adds credibility as Lovitz' high brow father and Louise Fletcher does a wild turn as the "bitch" of high school principals. ** of 4 stars.