Rating: Summary: rock isn't dead!!! Review: this is possibly my favorite "mainstream" comedy of 2003. it is definetly on my list of favorites of last year. this movie is a fairly simple movie with a fairly simple script. but, where is excells is in the actors/actresses. jack black puts his whole heart into the role of dewey finn, a down-on-his-luck musician who loses his place in a band. he intercepts one of his roomate's phonecalls and soon finds himself pretending to be a substitute teacher. hilarity ensues as he teaches a young class about the history of rock and roll and trains them to be rock musicians.this movie has a ton of heart! it is a feel-good journey into the mind of jack black. you can see his love of rock in this movie as he acts to the best of his strengths. he is on top of his game in this movie and it is worth seeing for that alone. another sell in this movie is the kids they got for the roles. instead of going after actors, they went after actual musicians. being a guitar player myself, i HATE to see fake-guitar playing by someone who obviously has no idea what they are doing. rather, the kids are skilled and do an incredible job of playing in a rock band. see this movie once...see it twice...see is three times (in the same week) as i did and you still won't get bored. this movie truly rocks!
Rating: Summary: Very good. I thought it was a heartwarming comedy Review: Dewey Finn's life revolves around all things rock 'n' roll. He not only knows rock history and rock jargon, he knows where drummers store an extra a pair of drumsticks (in the back of their shirts) and what posture looks best when strumming power chords. Lest you begin to think Dewey's just an over-the-top groupie, you should know that he plays lead guitar in a rock band himself. And it's his plan to grab top honors at a radio station's Battle of the Bands contest. But his band mates have other ideas, and they give Dewey the boot. Desperate for rent money, he racks his brain for inspiration. Should he start a new band? Or just hawk his cherished Gibson guitar? Before he can do anything too rash, he fields a call for his buddy and landlord, Ned, a substitute teacher. On the phone is Principal Mullins of Horace Green Elementary School, an uppity school for children of privilege. She needs Ned to substitute teach. Altering his voice and claiming to be his pal, Dewey accepts the job. Reporting for duty, but only to score a paycheck, he ignores the lesson plans, choosing instead to let his students have ongoing recess. But even they get tired of eternal playground time, so Dewey concocts a plan to use the kids to win the Battle of the Bands by fashioning them into a rock group. Overnight, Dewey begins to take teaching "seriously"-or at least his version of teaching. Three-chord progressions. Keyboards. Bass. Percussion. Dress. Attitude. Stance. Watching classic rock performers on video and imitating them becomes a classroom staple. But something else is happening. Along the way, Dewey begins to care about his students. For a PG-13 movie, School of Rock throttles back considerably. There's a pleasant absence of s-words and f-words. No one winds up in the sack here. There's no gun play. No blood. No gore. Still, this isn't quite what family audiences are looking for. Crude humor and an overall premise that good kids are better with a cocky, rock-god attitude don't exactly inspire deep affection. Actor/musician Jack Black is in his element as the slovenly guitarist-turned-educator. He's actually part of the band Tenacious D, so the music comes naturally. So do his impish schmoozing and the way his maniacal eyebrows dive devilishly toward his nose. When Black is building his pupils' self-esteem, School of Rock rocks. But their education includes lessons in rebellion and belting out profane lyrics. So this ends up an off-key cross between Mr. Holland's Opus and The Bad News Bears. [Spoiler Warning] For viewers thinking Dewey might come around at the end, change his ways and become something more than an immature rocker, they'll be disappointed. School of Rock is more Rebellion 101 than it is Rock 101. And that'll have a lot of families playing hooky.
Rating: Summary: I'm sure it sounded good when they pitched it.... Review: "Jack Black as a renegade loser who finds redemption by teaching a bunch of nerdy kids how to rock." Perfect idea for a film huh? Lots of opportunity for Jack to do his patended sociopath/air guitar schtick, throw in some cute kids, how can we lose? The viewer loses. Every excess and oddity that makes Jack Black funny has, in classic Hollywood style, been so stretched, exaggerated and endlessly repeated that Jack goes from amusing boob to horrible bore. The script was obviously a quickie, showing little or no wit whatsoever. And while Black's character is supposedly dedicated to the point of obsession with rock music, the movie is bizarrely empty of references to actual rock music or actual rock bands -- unlike the classic "High Fidelity" (movie and novel), both of which were made not only by fresh performances but by witty and knowing references to actual rock bands. Sorry, I've gone on too long. Let me summarize. This is just a cynical, exploitative piece of garbage.
Rating: Summary: Jack Black at his best Review: School of Rock is a great movie with perfect Jack Black and an excellent supporting cast, most of them kids. Dewie Finn gets kicked out of his band and must find a way to pay the rent. When he intercepts a phone call for his substitute teacher roommate, Ned, Dewie decides to take the job. At first, he has no idea what to do, but when he discovers the kids in the class are great musicians, he decides to turn them into a band. Along the way, Dewie gets to know them all while also teaching them the history of rock. This is a great movie that surprisingly can be seen by the whole family. Jack Black has never been better, and the kids are amazing. If nothing else, the soundtrack is great with plenty of Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Black Sabbath and so much more. Jack Black is perfectly cast as Dewie Finn, the down on his luck musician who takes a job as a substitute teacher. His eyebrows and facial expressions could not be done by anyone else. Joan Cusack is also very good as Principal Mullins, who tries to keep her school in order. Mike White and Sarah Silverman also star as Ned, Dewie's roommate, and his evil girlfriend. The real stars of this movie are the kids in Dewie's class. They are all incredible performers as well as pretty good actors. With all these things combined, School of Rock is a can't miss movie. For a great movie with hilarious Jack Black, check out School of Rock!
Rating: Summary: Cool as Peanut Butter Review: School of Rock will forever embody what Jack Black may have been, if not for a little band known as Tenacious D. In a world... Where Dewey needs a job...and no one will hire him because he's a rock-loving, stoner...until he impersonates his room-mate...to sub in a preppy, private school's music class...comes: "School of Rock!" Jack Black was made for this movie and visa-versa. He is given the space he needs to go rampant with his wild antics of rockacious fortitude; Like Robin Williams as an auction caller. He is able to show his dramatic capabilities as well, along with many hilarious quip's of sarcasm. I haven't laughed that hard and continuous in any movie that I can remember. Comedic Value? Cha-ching. I will own it the day it comes out. Long Live TD. ~s.a.o.s.~
Rating: Summary: Highly Recommended Review: Looking for a good comedy? Well, I suggest this as your next rental (or purchase)... I'm sure you've heard of this movie by now, as it has been raved about by critics and movie-goers alike. Jack Black gives one of his best performances yet (only rivaled by his position as a stoner brother in Orange County and as a wise ass vinyl CD shop worker in High Fidelity) and boosts every scene that much more. All the kids in this movie actually play each instrument, which is pretty amazing considering their age. Black plays a washed-up rocker who just got kicked out of his band for the "outdated" 15-minute solos and stage dives. He needs to get in a new band but he also needs a job to pay for his rent of living with a friend (Mike White) and his whiny girlfriend in an apartment. His girlfriend finally convinces White to make Black start paying the rent, so Black getsthe idea to pretend to be White's character when called upon to sub in one of the nation's top schools. As long as his friend doesn't know, it will give me a place to stay until I get in a band, Black figures. So he basically lets the kids have recess all day while he sleeps, until he hears them in music class and gets the idea to make a band out of them and compete in the Battle of the Bands against many others, including his previous band that kicked him out. Despite how amazingly far-fetched and ridicoulus the plot is, if you can realize that it's just a movie, you will definetly enjoy yourself. Great writing, acting, everything. I highly recommend it to ANYONE, especially fans of crappy rap and pop who need to start listening to music that actually requires talent.
Rating: Summary: Jack Black at his finest Review: This movie has to be by far one of the best Jack Black movies ever made, and Jack Black has been in Saving Silverman and Orange County. OC was kinda funny but it had Jack Black humor. I love this movie and if you love to laugh and rock out then you will love it to.
Rating: Summary: Modern Music Man Review: Check it out... Heart. Rock. Soul. Passion. If you're low on inspiration this February (the longest month of the year), check out Jack Black's "School of Rock." A hard-core, stage-diving rocker lands in a sterile prep school and manages to light a fire in his students and moviegoers alike. This film will leave you feeling renewed and ready to rock. The characters are well-drawn ranging from the slovenly, beer-drinking Black himself to his timid roommate and his roommate's angry and emasculating girlfriend. An uptight, female school principal with a long-buried free spirit rounds out the main adult cast. But it's the students themselves and their heartfelt chemistry with Black that sends this show solidly into the "To Sir with Love" and "Stand and Deliver" category. Black deftly channels the kids' "smarts" into soulfulness by being fully himself. His passion for rock music and his authenticity offer a lesson we can all embrace: Don't check your passion at life's door. The best gift you can give the world is to be ALL there! His scenes with a young, Aretha-like teenage singer suffering from stage fright are worth the price of admission alone. Thanks and kudos to Jack Black for "The School of Rock." With its Harold Hill "Music Man" overtones, it has just the right recipe to feed your soul this winter!
Rating: Summary: Jack Black is freakin' amazing - even after telling us so... Review: One thing I really like about Jack Black is that he has the power to say that he is the greatest and we believe it. By God I think it's true, he may be. But Mike White's (dude that wrote The Good Girl and stars in TSOR as Jacks roommate) dry humor works perfectly in this movie. I saw this movie three times in the theater watching more carefully every time and this movie is truly a classic, despite what an earlier review said. When Jack Black tells you he rocks, it means that he ROCKS. I get chills every time I see the kids play on stage at the end of the movie. Don't expect to be rolling in the aisle with laughter though. The movie does have it's laugh out loud moments, but it's more of a feel good movie - a GOOD feel good movie. I never knew that someone could do that. A month and a half is way to long to wait to see the movie again, but ah well...
Rating: Summary: it was awsome Review: the movie was so funny that i just could not stop laughing!the kids are very talented and they did a really good job.another thing i think kevin clark and joey r really cute. (",)
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