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Movie Review - School of Rock
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Richard Linklater |
| Starring: |
Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman, and a bunch of young kid
musicians |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for some "rude humor" and drug references) |
| Length: |
108 minutes |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Website: |
School of Rock |
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PLOT
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Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is an oversized, highly energized guitar player who serves society by rocking.
The problem is that his band mates think he's embarrassing, so they kick him out of the band in order to
take a more serious approach at the upcoming "Battle of the Bands" contest.
Unable to pay his share of the rent, Dewey poses as his roommate (a substitute teacher), and accepts a
temp job at a $15,000-a-year prep school. After witnessing his students' talents in music class, he
proceeds to transform them into a rock band by convincing them it's a school project. Hilarity and
rock-and-roll hijinks ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Now I could impersonate your typical movie reviewer and say something like, "'School of Rock' rocks!" Or
even worse I could go the whole "Class is in session!" route. Or I could really make you stop reading this
review right now by saying, "Get me the course curriculum because mama, I'm signing up to the 'School of
Rock!'" But I'm not gonna do that. I will not resort to loading this review with a bunch of bad puns.
I'll simply say that I love this movie. Very funny stuff.
The story may not be the most plausible you've ever seen, and the plot may not be the most complex in
cinematic history, but the story is cleverly written, and if you walk out of the theater complaining,
"I doubt that'd happen in real life!" then you've missed the point of the movie. This is Jack Black at
his best.
It's gonna be hard to find a role that fits Black more perfectly. His real-life love for music (you may
or may not have heard of his band, Tenacious D) carries the movie. Not only is the movie very funny, but
it's also interesting to watch Black walk the kids through the process of playing a song as a band. Plus,
the rockin' soundtrack keeps the energy level high. If you're a fan of music and rock history, then there's
a lot here for you to enjoy.
One of the things I really like about the movie is that all the children in the movie are actual musicians.
For me, it's much more fun watching Zack (Joey Gaydos) actually play a screaming guitar solo rather than
watching Haley Joel Osment (or whoever today's 10-year-old actor phenom is) keep his fingers on the same
chord the whole time. The movie's all about keepin' it real, folks. *taps chest with a sideways fist and
kisses fingertips*
This is clearly Jack Black's movie, but Joan Cusack does a good job as the wound-too-tight principle,
screenwriter Mike White gets some face time as Black's roommate (Mr. Schneebly), and Sarah Silverman (as
Schneebly's girlfriend) plays one of the biggest wainches I've seen on screen in a long time. Every time
her character appeared, I considered walking to the front of the theater and slapping the screen. But then
I realized that I'd probably look pretty stupid, and people would start yelling at me, so I figured
it wasn't really worth it.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Actually, there's not too much here that should offend mama. The profanities are kept at a minimum, and
surprisingly there aren't any included that you can't hear on network television. Technically, this movie
could air on primetime without any editing. I'm surprised it didn't get a PG rating. I guess they were
scared that'd keep the living-on-the-edge movie viewers away.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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When I first saw the trailer I thought, "Hmmm, looks like it might be a bit childish and sappy." Welp, I'm
happy to report that that's not the case. Sure, there are some moments of cuteness and "you can do it!"
shoulder punches, but Jack Black works so well with the kids that he manages to keep things from being
overly sentimental. I saw him on Leno the other night, and he made the following comment: "For every ounce
of cute, I made sure there were three pounds of hilarious." That sums it up perfectly. Coincidentally,
that's also the formula I use for my reviews.
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THE GIST
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If you like Jack Black and his crazy persona, then I expect you'll like this movie. I found it to be
much more enjoyable than either "Shallow Hal" or "Orange County." In fact, I enjoyed it so much that
I went to a second advanced screening. My 16-year-old sister and her friend tagged along, and they
both loved it. I laughed throughout the whole movie, and I don't think my smile left my face for the
last 20 minutes. I hope no one was looking at me because I'm sure I looked like a big dork sitting
there smiling and tapping my foot. Oh well.
And hey! Make sure you stay through the closing credits. The band keeps playing, and Black adds some
funny lyrics about how the movie is over but the people in the theater are getting in the way of the
cleaning crew. Good times, good times.
As we were leaving the theater, I heard a young boy tell his mom that he wanted to learn to play the
guitar. "School of Rock" can definitely have that effect on younger kids. I'm 29, and after the movie I
was even thinking about dusting off my guitar and strumming a G and C chord for a little bit. But man,
it *is* a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. So I decided to watch Jack Black on Leno
instead. This is definitely one I'll add to my DVD collection.
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