Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass."

2003 PG-13 / Music Comedy Directed by: Richard Linklater Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White

Tagline

He just landed the gig of his life: 5th grade.

Summary Capsule

Failed rocker fakes it as a sub, yet unsurprisingly becomes an inspirational role model and molds young minds. With AC/DC.

Mutant Meter

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Amazon.com: DVD | Amazon.com: Soundtrack

Justin's Rating: We will, we will, watch you, watch you
Justin's Review: While The School Of Rock was okay, it just can't compare to such classics of rockinema like Crossroads.

Yeah, you caught me, I was just trying to make Clare's head blow up. We have an office pool on who can do it the most. If you want in, just send me $25 and a list of ten reasons why John Cusack is a grody-head.

"Dewey knows nothing and can't teach... except when it comes to ROCK. Then, he's that perfect, yet unorthodox teacher who yadda yadda kids find their destiny blah blah everyone is on their feet cheering for them, the end."

The School of Rock is a slightly -- slightly -- original mishmash between the duh-I'm-not-a-teacher-but-I-fell-into-teaching-and-I-found-out-I'm-a-prodigy-at-it, and something else that doesn't involve an incredible abuse of dash marks. Oh yeah, the "struggling band finally makes it big" genre. There, nothing got hurt, except a couple of quotation marks that were plain asking for it.

Dewey (Dewey!?), a failed musician, ends up faking as a substitute teacher at a prep academy for wee ones. Happily, it doesn't turn out to be one of those incredulous plots where the guy finds out he's a perfect, yet unorthodox, teacher who can inspire the kids in ways that normal teachers (the ones who get a degree and all that piddling nonsense) cannot. Nope, Dewey knows nothing and can't teach... except when it comes to ROCK. Then, he's that perfect, yet unorthodox teacher who yadda yadda kids find their destiny blah blah everyone is on their feet cheering for them, the end.

Your liking of The School of Rock is largely dependent on your liking of Jack Black -- he of the band Tenacious D, of such films as High Fidelity and Shallow Hal. He may not be the handsomest guy in his own 10 foot radius, and he may not even be all that accomplished of an actor. But what Jack does have -- and what I appreciate -- is a certain everydude quality about him, that makes you know he's this chummy, funny and fun to be with in real life. Jack Black has a blast hamming it up, educating little kids to the legacy of "real" rock, slowly becoming the rock star that he has dreamed of becoming. How does he do this? Just a pinch of fraud and manipulation, and Jack's transformed an entire grade school class into a genuine rock band, complete with roadies, groupies, and a very funny costume designer.

Aside from the whole tried-and-been-there visit to Inspirational Teacher Land, what really calls School of Rock to the front and center is that it's a perfect and highly creative tribute to the rock genre, while satirizing it at the same time. In the setting of an elementary classroom, we laugh at the ridiculousness of bands posing while at the same time being reminded of the genuine passion that drives some tunes. And while there have been many homages on film to the rock genre, at least this one isn't completely full of itself (Almost Famous, I'm glaring daggers of irony in your direction).

School of Rock, we salute ye.

Clare's Rating: Jack Black Lite.
Clare's Review: School of Rock is a perfect movie for Jack Black to star in. He's been quietly (okay, not quietly at all) honing the (non-)subtle nuances of his character, Dewey Finn, for years as one half of Tenacious D and as the go-to guy for any movie looking to inject a little ham into its proceedings. It should come as no surprise that his character and this whole film were written specifically for him. See Justin's very succinct and accurate review for a description of the actual goings on in the film.

"It's cute. And for once I say that as a compliment about something and not as an ironic word I would use while also spitting on whatever I'm describing."

School of Rock is good. You should see it. It's cute. And for once I say that as a compliment about something and not as an ironic word I would use while also spitting on whatever I'm describing. You can bring your kids to it and they'd probably only be slightly confused. There are a bunch of moments in the film that made me laugh out loud. And I definitely had an "our boy Jack is all growed-up" feeling about it. He carried his first major motion picture and it did really well at the box office in no small part because he is as charismatic and accessible as he is. He works hard at what he does and I think he deserves all the praise and attention and money he can shovel into a truck and drive away with. I love Jack Black, and you should too. He's singularly hilarious and, as lots of people have speculated for many years, he's blowing up big and finally finding a larger audience to appreciate his many and varied talents.

Having said all that, here's my deal with this movie. Anyone who's seen Tenacious D, either on TV or live in concert or on DVD (Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks), has seen everything Black does in School of Rock in some form or another already. It's just that finding a larger audience also means having to lose some of the dirt and meat Black is so good at and replacing it with doing funny things with his eyebrows and being cuddly. And while I don't begrudge him the choice to go in that direction, I prefer my Jack Black in all his full on R-Rated glory. In School of Rock, he's the Jack Black you'd be happy to bring home to mom. And I much prefer the Jack Black who talks constantly about body functions, drugs, pubic hair and filling crevasses with his mighty juice. But I recognize that my tastes aren't everyone's, so I'd say that if you've seen Jack Black anywhere else and found him amusing, you'll definitely enjoy School of Rock.

In addition to all this Jack Black love, I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention how GREAT Joan Cusack is in this movie. She's hilarious, adorable, quirky and basically just kicks ass all over the place. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing repressed and uppity as funny as she did.

Sue's Rating: Actually, THREE is the magic number.
Sue's Review: I didn’t watch The School of Rock with any real expectations, which is a good thing, since if I had, none of them would have been met. The music wouldn’t have wowed me, the story wouldn’t have gripped me and Jack Black wouldn’t have annoyed me nearly as much as he usually does. In fact, none of these things happened, so isn’t it nice that I didn’t go to all the trouble of setting myself up for failure?

"Peanut butter movies that stick with you for quite a long time. School of Rock was more like jelly. It didn’t take much effort to wash down."

I don’t know. I think Dead Poet’s Society ruined me for dumbed-down fine-arts mentorish movies. Or maybe Wonder Boys did. Both smart movies, with doses of humor, leavened with serious drama. Peanut butter movies that stick with you for quite a long time. School of Rock was more like jelly. It didn’t take much effort to wash down. (Did you catch the bread reference a few sentences ago? I made a sandwich!)

The only character in the whole story who struck me as believable was Ned Schneebly played interestingly enough by the scriptwriter Mike White. (Sidenote: Is it just me, or does the guy look like Spud from Trainspotting’s love child?) Black was over the top as only Black can be — at least since John Belushi died. The kids were cookie cutter stereotypes, the parents all ultra-conservative familial dictators, Schneebly’s girlfriend was an unredeemable... er... terrier of the female and un-spayed persuasion... and even Joan Cusack (who acted rings around everyone else) was stuck with the “misunderstood authority figure who just wants to be liked” role. Eh.

It was a cute movie. Sort of. I laughed in a few places and tapped my toes to the music periodically. It’s reasonable to assume that I would have enjoyed it more if I’d watched it in the company of a few friends and a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew. My mistake.

The thing was, it veered so much between heavy-handed (lets make a double entendre and WAIT for thirty seconds until we’re SURE everyone gets it) and lightweight (“I’m too dorky to play keyboards.” “No you aren’t.” “Oh, okay.”) that I can’t help but think it could have been... somehow... better. Bah, maybe I’m just getting stodgy.

Jack Black meets the 18th century I wanna rock... with pasty white legs! "All right you primitive screwheads, listen up!"

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• The creative and nifty way they do the opening credits with posters at a night club
• The lead singer in Dewey's band (Theo) is none other than Adam Pascal, the man would played Roger in the original Broadway cast of Rent. [thanks Brock!]

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

Most definitely — there's an epilogue scene in The School of Rock that plays during the end credits, with a funny song that references the audience. And that's you!

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

The big posters in Dewey's bedroom are of the Sex Pistols, The Who, and New York City rock band Evil Jake. They were included because set designers photographed lead singer Mike Jacobs' apartment as research on how struggling musicians actually live, and Dewey's apartment is partially modeled on Mike's.

Groovy Quotes

Dewey: Your kids have all really touched me, and I'm pretty sure that I've touched them.

Dewey: Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!

Dewey: I pledge allegiance... to the band... of Mr. Schneebly... and will not fight him... for creative control... and will defer to him on all issues related to the musical direction of the band.

Dewey: Ok, here's the deal. I have a hangover. Who knows what that means?
Frankie: Doesn't that mean you're drunk?
Dewey: No. It means I was drunk yesterday.
Freddy: It means you're an alcoholic.
Dewey: No.
Freddy: You wouldn't come to work with a hangover unless you were an alcoholic. Dude, you got a disease!
Dewey: What's your name, kid?
Freddy: Freddy Jones.
Dewey: Ok, shut up!

Miss Mullins: Sorry to interrupt, Mrs. Lemmons said that she heard music coming from the classroom.
Dewey: Uh oh, it looks like Mrs. Lemmons is on crack, right kids?

Dewey: In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you.

Dewey: God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with our high voltage rock. In your name we pray, Amen.

Dewey: Give up, just quit, because in this life, you can't win. Yeah, you can try, but in the end your just gonna lose, big time, because the world is run by the man. The Man, oh you don't know the man. He's everywhere.. in the Whitehouse... down the hall -- Ms. Mullens, she's the man. And the man ruined the ozone, he's burning down the Amazon, and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! And there used to be a way to stick it to the man, it was called Rock and Roll, but guess what, oh no, the man ruined that too with a little thing called MTV! So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome cause the man is just gonna call you a fat washed up loser and crush your soul. So do yourselves a favor and just GIVE UP!

Parent: Mr Schneebly, why has my daughter become obsessed with David Geffen?

Dewey (during Parent-Teacher night): Okay, see, I would like to tell you what we’ve been doing in here, but there is such a thing as teacher-student confidentiality. And I don’t want to be in breach of educational law cause I could be... dismembered by the Teachers’ Union, so...

Dewey: Now lets get out there and melt some faces!

Dewey: Sell my guitars? Would you tell Picasso to sell his guitars?

Soundtrack Review

Fairly good album to own (I got it), with two tunes from the film, plus tracks by The Who, The Doors, Led Zepplin, Stevie Nicks and The Ramones. There's even three sound clips from the movie.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Dead Poets Society
• Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks
• Billy Madison