Rating: 
Summary: Seek individuality with responsibility.
Review: An irresponsible hard Wrawker Dewey Finn, played by Jack Black, takes a temp job at a high achievement school as a teacher, and turns 10 year classical musicians into rockers. Both the teacher, the students, the principal and the parents all learn something along the way.The School of Rock is an entertaining film that walks the line between being family friendly and being offensive. There were three moments during the film where one might wish the editor had cut the line for my younger children. What will bother some are the mild references to sex and drugs. But there is no cursing, nudity or simulated sex. What may bother others is Dewey twins philosophies of Screw the Man and that Anger makes good Rock and Roll. The kids adopt this philosophy, but Dewey takes responsibility for possibly the first time in his life. But this is a comedy and the whole thing works. After having sat through the movie, my kids immediately wanted to watch it a second time, and the 11 and 9 year old sat through it a second time. My 7 year old went off to play. So two thumbs up from pre-teens, two from mom and dad and two from my older sons! What ever you think of Jack Black and his big mouth in real life, he is perfect in this movie. He is a talented guy with an excellent rock singers voice. This is a 3 star movie (good) but I'll give it an extra star because I am an old Wrawker myself.
Rating: 
Summary: "I Love the School Of Rock!"
Review: What intially drwas you into to "School of Rock," is Mr. Blacks' insane, twisted, but always in some crazy way witty and funny brand of comedy, "School of Rock" is a rocking, rollicking and wholly enjoyable formula movie. It has fun with the history of rock, its cliches, and even race, privilege and mone all at the same time. Black plays a down on his luck rocker named Dewey, who poses as his best friend to be a substitute teacher at a posh private school, filled with kids who know more about Handel than Hendrix. Dewey changes all of that by making his class believe that there is a state-wide project that involves all schools to form a rock band and battle it out. And the kids Dewey meets along the way all turn out to be gifted musicians, as well as fodder for some of the funniest comedy to come along this year. His band is made up of an Asian (on piano), African-Americans (back-up singers), and stiff white guys (on guitar and drums). But the "School of Rock" has a sweetness and a genuine nature about it that transends race and heritage, not to mention the kids in the movie are immensely talented. The child actors (those who had to) learned to play their instruments, and they do a damn good job too. Black once said in an interview that he was kind of embarrased to be surrounded with kids who were better musicians than he was. But Black really shines in sequences where director Richard Linklater lets Black cut loose, trashing MTV, poking fun at Einsteins Theory of Relativity and letting ad lib the a scene that coincides with the closing credits. While its still in theatres, treat yourself to ... "THE SCHOOL OF ROCK!"
Rating:
Summary: A True Tribute To Rock
Review: Goes mostly for Jeffrey C Zoerner and people like him: Gosh people, Jeffrey etc. You keep on and on yanking, giving your thoughts, forgeting one obvious thing.
You do not like rock music! Judging from the music you wrote that you like, it is more than clear that you never liked nor appreciated rock. Thus, watching this movie was known-to-be waste of your time. That thing about the movie criticizing anybody who didn't listen music "that came out 25 years before they were born" is plain wrong! And it shows once again your hatred toward rock music.
What movie says is plain and simple, 3 words - rock and roll.
And ask ANY historian, any music fan, that what DEFINES rock music are the bands mentioned in the movie. Rock would've never been born without the legends - The Who, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Hendrix, Cream, Yes, Rush, ... you name it. Those bands are brickstones of rock music. It's history. It's universal truth. You can't do much about it. You can dislike that music, but don't talk stupid things. I grew up listening all of these bands. I grew up learning and playing guitar, having a band, ... I was/am the kind of geek Dewey is in this movie. While other kids went in discos to dance the night away, turned over 10 girls a night and such ... we were learning those guitar chords, finding our sorts of ppl and hang around, play MUSIC, enjoy rock music. Spending countless hours recording tapes, listening music - the kind of geeks working in that music shop in HIGH FIDELITY (another Jack Black movie). If you are not one like above described, you can't understand this movie - period. I cried my eyes out on the School Of Rock song they play on the competition. In my humble opinion, this movie is a sincere representation of everything that rock music stands for. A True tribute to rock music. If you listen rock music or what you think it's rock, take this movie as a guide, listen to what it suggests - go back check out those bands. You'll discover a goldmine.
After a while you will seethru all the garbage they feed us on MTV and such, all those angry rock bands today, faking frustration, faking rebbelion.
It's exactly what Jack Black says abt the Man - MTV killed rock and roll. Thumbs up for Mike White and Richard Linklater. You guys showed my teenagehood on screen and reminded me of what true love for rock music is. ROCK AND ROLL CAN SAVE THE WORLD. Preach on
Rating: 
Summary: (...)
Review: This movie made such a bad impression on me that I find it hard to even conjure up a review. "School of Rock" is of the made-for-TV genre, barely enough "meat" for a half hour sitcom. It is formulaic: misfit makes good. So what else is new? The haphazard and frenetic quality of this movie was wearying to me. I could not wait for it to be over...in fact, I do not know why I even finished watching it.I guess it was because I was watching it with other people. At one point, I actually dozed off. The characters are mostly underwritten, unbelievable (except for the kids), and unlikable caricatures who are barely even funny. (...) The music was pretty good, but unfortunately, the rock does not roll until near the end...far too late to save this movie
Rating:
Summary: Rocks!
Review: It sounds like such a high-concept Hollywood crap movie: a slob fakes his way into a job as a substitute teacher, teaches the kids about rock music, forms a band, plays at the big competition. And along the way the slob cleans himself up and the kids get solid life-lessons as the slob realizes he was born to be a role-model, right? Not even close! "School of Rock" isn't some formula cookie-cutter movie. It slamdances around every potential pitfall and triumphs. "School of Rock" is one of the few movies that kids and adults will both love, sometimes even for the same reasons. Why is "School of Rock" so cool? Let me count the ways... 1. Jack Black is turned loose, and who knew? He's a natural with kids. He never once dumbs down his persona - instead, if anything, he cranks it up a notch, and proves he can be endearingly obnoxious without being cloying, which is a rare gift. 2. Jack, and the movie, takes rock music seriously. Dewey Finn, Jack's character, talks about rock as if it's a vital component of his soul. By the end of the movie, you'll agree. 3. The kids aren't trapped into Disney formulas - they're real kids, with dimensions and a certain wisdom. They also take the music seriously. 4. The supporting cast, which includes KG (of course) and a fabulous turn from Joan Cusack, is uniformly good. Joan's character is treated with such entertaining tact that I just wanted to hug the filmmakers! 5. Even the ENDING avoids cliche and stays true to the lessons, and anarchic heart, of the movie. Oh yes, and "School of Rock" is really funny. Buy it, watch it, enjoy it. Bring a lighter - you will most definitely want to raise it in the air by the end! P.S. Why is this movie PG-13? It is suitable for any kid who can handle network TV.
Rating:
Summary: Mike White's perfect Jack Black Script
Review: "School of Rock" was written by the increasingly prolific screenwriter and actor Mike White. Here, White shows that such eye-openingly good works like "The Good Girl" (with Jennifer Aniston) and the critically acclaimed "Chuck and Buck" were no flukes. For the first time since "High Fidelity," Black is given material that suits him. Credit White for writing and building a movie around Black's talents. And if you think that sounds easy, go talk to makers of "Shallow Hal" and other Black miscastings. From an acting perspective, there's Black above all others. White modestly stays in the background. His girlfriend Patty (Sarah Silverman) is pretty much a one-note shrew (that's the role written for her). Joan Cusack is great when she appears - her little moment gathering herself alone in a hallway in face of an onslaught of parents is the movie's one bit of dramatic acting. The kids are really superb. I assume that's really them playing those instruments. There's none of the tricky camera work when musical fakery is involved (shots of the head, shots of the hand). You get full body shots - guitarist Zach (Joey Gaydos Jr.) expertly working the chords, keyboardist Lawrence (Robert Tsai) dexterously working up and down the scales. As far as Black is concerned, I don't think this is acting at all. This role appears to be him to a 'T'. Credit Mike White for envisioning a really cute, smart movie around that thought.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Hard To Feel Good When There Are No Rules
Review: This is a puported "feel good" movie. I can agree with that claim to a degree - certainly, that's what it was going for. The problem is that "School of Rock" doesn't come to a resolution that feels rewarding, even within its own set of rules.
Jack Black's teacher character is so selfish with the children, wasting their time on his own rock band, that it's downright difficult to root for him. And he's never made to pay any kind of price for his robbing them of a good education. This is a formulaic Hollywood comedy, but that doesn't mean it has no responsibility to make sense on some level. It fails to do that. I don't wish to ruin the ending of this film for anyone who has yet to see it, but just be wary that what I've said is true, and it's not emotionally or logically satisfying/sensical.
Before I move on to the good points of the movie, I'd also like to wonder why the homosexual student was portrayed as being a stick-in-the-mud, ruining the good, old-fashioned fun that everyone else was having. It's questionable enough to put such a stereotypical character in a movie for young children in a time where intolerance is a serious problem,(His only role in the band is costume design, he loves theater, and he's very stuck up) but to make him a sort of villain seemed totally irresponsible to me. I could have forgiven the writers if this served the plot in any way, but of course it did not.
Having said all of that, this was still an enjoyable movie experience. Jack Black is an excellent performer at both comedy and music, and there are undeniably jokes and scenes that are very funny. If I were 8 years old and didn't have to think about what does and does not make sense in a plot, I may well have loved it... but there's no shortage of fun Hollywood comedies, not even ones featuring Jack Black. So unelss you've seen the others, you can wait for this one.
Rating:
Summary: Rock On!
Review: A big, fun, good-natured romp for Jack Black who plays an unsuccessful musician turned substitute teacher who ends up teaching a bunch of uptight prep school kids how to rock out. The cast is excellent, the kids are adorable, the script is really well written. My only regret is that the hilariously edgy comedian Sarah Silverman was given such a limited role as the shrewish girlfriend. But aside from that, I highly recommend this film!
Rating:
Summary: Recommended viewing for all teachers...
Review: Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is a passionate musician that is dumped by the band that he once started and is in financial quandary as he cannot pay the rent. Desperately Dewey assumes the name of his roommate and accepts a job as a substitute elementary school teacher for the states best private school. However, Dewey has no interest in teaching, until he finds out that the students are exceptionally skilled with a number of musical instruments. This leads to Dewey to initiate a secret school project that includes playing and learning about rock music. School of Rock is an interesting comedy that displays how an exceptional teacher must love what he or she is teaching in order to engage his or her students. Linklater grabs the audience in a very uplifting cinematic experience, which is full of wonderful jokes and shenanigans. This film should be recommended viewing for teachers as it can salvage their desire to teach and help youth.
Rating: 
Summary: C+
Review: Jack Black is great, of course, and the kids are semi-cute -- but, other than that, this is a really bad movie. Joan Cusak and Sarah Silverman are given nothing funny to say and are therefore not funny (see how that works?). Lots of wasted talent here....
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