High School High

High School High
Directed by	Hart Bochner
Produced by	David Zucker Robert LoCash Gil Netter
Written by	David Zucker Robert LoCash Pat Proft
Starring	Jon Lovitz Tia Carrere Mekhi Phifer Malinda Williams Brian Hooks Natasha Gregson Wagner John Neville Louise Fletcher
Music by	Ira Newborn
Cinematography	Vernon Layton
Editing by	James R. Symons
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	October 25, 1996
Running time	86 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Box office	$21,302,121 [1] (domestic total)

High School High is a 1996 comedy film about an inner city high school in the Los Angeles, California area, starring Jon Lovitz, Tia Carrere, Mekhi Phifer, Louise Fletcher, Malinda Williams, and Brian Hooks. It is a spoof of movies concerning idealistic teachers being confronted with a class of cynical teenagers, disengaged by conventional schooling, and loosely parodies The Principal, Dangerous Minds, Lean on Me, and Stand and Deliver. It also notably parodies the LA River drag race from Grease.

Plot

The plot focuses on Jon Lovitz's character, Richard Clark, attempting to improve the school where he is teaching, which is extreme to the point that there are reserved parking spaces for SWAT team and National Guard members. He is assisted by his co-worker turned girlfriend, Victoria Chapell (Tia Carrere). Together they turn the school around in the ghetto to become a fine establishment suitable for education. In the end of the film, Doyle, the principal, is exposed as a drug dealer and is arrested. The main six students throughout the movie graduate (but only those six). Griff delivers the valedictorian speech, and Clark makes good on his promise to help Griff attend college. Clark becomes principal, and is in a relationship with Victoria.

Trivia

Lexie Bigham died in a road accident shortly after completing this movie. Trey Parker turned down the chance to direct this movie. The school in the movie is named Marion Barry High, a reference to the then Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry. In some countries, like Portugal, the translated title is a pun to the also translated title of Dangerous Minds. Adult actress Jeannie Pepper appears in the film as Mrs. McReynolds. She is credited as Joan Rudelstein.

Cast

• Jon Lovitz as Richard Clark, a naive Caucasian teacher whose main goal is to help underachieving students at Marion Berry High School succeed.
• Tia Carrere as Victoria Chapel, a fellow teacher who sympathizes with Richard.
• Louise Fletcher as Principal Evelyn Doyle, who believes Richard will fail.
• Mekhi Phifer as Griff McReynolds, one of Clark's students and a former gang member who aspires to graduate high school and attend college.
• Malinda Williams as Natalie Thompson, Griff's girlfriend.
• Guillermo Díaz as Paco de la Vega al Camino Cordoba Jose Cuervo Sanchez Rodriguez Jr., Griff's former gang partner.
• Brian Hooks as Anferny Jefferson, one of Clark's students. He is a slightly dimwitted gang member who only knows of urban pop culture.
• Natasha Gregson Wagner as Julie Rubels, one of Clark's students who is a teenage mother with many children.
• Marco Rodríguez as Mr. DeMarco, a gangster who is in the midst of a shady "business" deal with Paco and another mysterious gangster known as "Mr. A".
• John Neville as Thaddeus Clark, Richard's father.
• Lexie Bigham as Two-Bags, a member of Paco's gang.
• Gil Espinoza as Alonzo, a member of Paco's gang.

Release

The film opened at #2 on the weekend of October 25, 1996, behind the film Sleepers. The film remained in the top 5 for the next two weekends, making it a modest box office success.

Reception

The film received generally mixed to negative reviews upon its release. It currently holds a 13% rating of "Rotten" on the Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes along with a 40% rating of "Liked it" by audiences.

Soundtrack

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
RapReviews	(7/10)[3]

The film soundtrack was released on September 10, 1996 through Big Beat Records and contained hip hop and R&B music. The album did well on the Billboard charts, making it to #20 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and was also certified gold by the RIAA.^[4][5] In addition, five singles made it to the charts, the most successful of which was RZA's "Wu-Wear: The Garment Renaissance", which peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Rap Singles.^[6]

References

External links

• High School High at Rotten Tomatoes
• High School High at the Internet Movie Database
• High School High at Box Office Mojo
• Reel movie page
• Yahoo! Movies page