School of Rock
Starring Jack Black, Joan Cusack, and a Bunch of Talented Kids
Written by Mike White and Directed by Richard Linklater


Boy, I would have loved to have had Jack Black for a teacher back in elementary school. The long recesses, constant goofing off, the laughs... With School of Rock we kind of get a glimpse of what that would have been like.

Jack Black (Shallow Hal) plays Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock n’ roll star whose kept the dream alive maybe a little too long. Slightly overweight and still mooching a bed in his friend’s apartment, Dewey never comes up with the rent and spends his time rockin’ with his band in sleazy clubs. Kind of sounds like a loser, doesn’t he? Well, at least he’s got passion, unlike his ex-rocker roommate, Ned (Mike White), who has sold out to “the Man” and is now a yuppie substitute teacher with a nagging girlfriend (played nicely by Sarah Silverman). However, after getting kicked out of the band he helped form, that passion still does not pay for the rent at the end of the day, which leads Dewey to “borrow” his friend Ned’s identity and take a job at a prep school. It is the perfect plan -- substitute for a couple of weeks, make enough money to pay for the rent, then continue on making the rock n’ roll dream come true. Easy, thinks Dewey -- that is before he meets “the kids”.

On arrival at the prep school, Dewey meets the school’s tightly wound principal, portrayed by the always talented Joan Cusack, and his class of kids. Dewey’s idea of a lesson plan is to basically let the kids have recess and lunch throughout the day. As long as the paycheques come rolling in, nothing else matters. But then Dewey discovers that some of his kids seem to have certain musical talents he could use, like say, for a rock band. The School of Rock is formed.

With movies like School of Rock, they have to be careful not to get too overly cutesy or fill themselves with too many “messages” at the risk of making the audience barf. Lucky for School of Rock, director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) is skilled at making films with messages that don’t seem to have messages. School of Rock also has Jack Black, a high energy actor that totally commits to whatever he plays, giving his characters believability no matter how unbelievable they seem. Yeah, a lot of scenes in School of Rock are “typical” like when the kids slowly warm up to Dewey and when Dewey becomes more mature because of the kids, but in School of Rock they are played out with a lot more fun and zeal. They don’t feel sugar-coated, but instead genuine and humourous. They show-and-tell the audience that music can open minds and that rock music has soul. As much as School of Rock is meant to be a family friendly film, it is also very much a love letter to classic rock. The kids are taught that there is much more than just Christina Aguilera or the latest boy-band. Dewey exposes them to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix. Artists who really show their souls on stage and really rocked in every sense of the word.

School of Rock is a great film to see with your family or just a great film to see, period. It gives us a little history lesson on true rock n’ roll and teaches us that “message movies" don’t always have to be as exciting as fourth period math.


THE RUNDOWN:

The Good: A great comedy with heart and love for classic rock.

The Bad: May be a little too child orientated for some rockers.

The Law: Definitely attend the School of Rock.