☆ ☆ ☆ ½
School of Rock (2003) – R. Linklater
Somehow, I went 20 years without seeing this film, not
for any particular reason other than that it seemed like a kids’ film and I am
an adult. Now that my kids are old enough, it happened. Jack Black plays Dewey Finn, a perpetual
adolescent who has just been kicked out of his classic rock band and just before
the city’s battle of the bands is about to begin. He’s also about to be kicked
out of his apartment, if he can’t get together his share of the rent. So, when the principal (Joan Cusack) of a
prestigious prep school calls looking to offer his roommate (screenwriter Mike
White) a substitute teaching job, Dewey decides to take the gig, masquerading
as his friend (“Mr. S.”). Of course, he
doesn’t know how to teach, but what he does know is ROCK. You really need to have a high tolerance for
Jack Black and his schtick to enjoy this movie – personally, I like him, so it
worked for me, but it is definitely all high-octane goofy improv action. (Director
Richard Linklater must have been a fan of Tenacious D.). Basically, Dewey takes
his 5th grade class and teaches them to be a rock band who he
imagines will eventually back him in the battle-of-the-bands. It’s your
traditional bad-news-bears-styled plot, the underdogs make good: you’ve seen it
before. The kids vary in their performances but no one is too terribly
cringe-worthy and under Linklater’s expert direction, some heartstrings are
pulled. Classic rock fills the soundtrack.
It’s a feel good affair, occasionally funny, and good for 5th
grade kids (and not bad for parents).
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