School of Rock
Review by Clint Morris
Click here for interview
with Jack Black
 Dewey
Finn [Jack Black] is an eager but unsuccessful artiste. On
the verge of getting kicked out of his house by roomies Ned
[Mike White] and Patty [Sarah Silverman], the portly pill
of get-up-and-go discovers an opportunity to make some of
the bank his wallet so frantically needs.
Pretending he’s his roommate Ned, Dewey gets a job impermanent
teaching at a snooty prep school.
He’s initially bored rigid, but eventually hits gold
ingots when he discovers his young band of pupils are talented
musicians.
Finally, he’ll get the chance to participate in the
battle of the bands, and the kids will get treated like they’ve
never been before: decently.
Unless you’re a die-hard fan of comedian Jack Black
(Shallow Hal, Orange County) it’s going
to pretty hard to convince you the intrinsic worth of Richard
Linklater’s School of Rock.
Reason? It’s another of ‘those teacher comes into
school and turns kids lives around’ movies. Yeah, we’ve
seen that formula used time and time again. Who wants to see
another one of those, hey? Haven’t we had all the Dead
Poet’s Society’s, Dangerous Mind’s
and To Sir with Love’s, we can handle for one
lifetime?
Probably - but allow room for one more. Only because it’s
very, very good.
There’s something so uncommon going on here. The script
flows, the laughs are thick, the actors are great – Black
especially who seems suited down to a tee here – and
more importantly, it feels a lot fresher than it probably
should.
Not a minute of School of Rock is mediocre and that
probably has a lot to do with the talented Linklater (Dazed
and Confused) being behind the lens. From its creative
opening titles and continuous rock soundtrack to the wirey
off-the-wall performance of Black and his followers (who absolutely
shine in the film’s final concert performance) Linklater’s
film is easily the best comedy of the year.
Best of all, it’s something the whole clan can go and
enjoy. There really should be more flicks like it.
Rock On.
4 out of 5
School of Rock
Australian release: Thursday November 20th
Cast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman.
Director: Richard Linklater.
Website: Click
here
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