School of Rock

Reviewed by:
Ben Goldstein

So your band fires you because of your uncontrollable antics and you owe major back rent to your roommate and his shrew-ass girlfriend. What do you do? If you’re Jack Black you…well, you wouldn’t have these problems because you’re a highly successful actor-comedian-musician-fat guy. But if you’re Dewey Finn, the hard-luck hard-rocker played by Jack Black in School of Rock, you get off your ass, pose as your substitute teacher roommate, and wait for the checks to roll in.

As you might imagine, the fifth-grade classroom Dewey cons his way into is full of some pretty special kids. Recognizing their natural abilities, and the existent lack of story line, Dewey hatches a plan to make this ragtag group of rich brats the best rock band the world has ever seen. Although Black has to rein in his trademark vulgarity—evidently, 13 is not “cock push-ups” age—the hyperanimated funnyman pulls some good clean humor out of interactions with the youngsters and is surprisingly successful at it (think Bill Cosby and Billy Madison). True, the movie is a little too tame at times—Dewey scolds his kids for saying that rock is about getting trashed and getting girls, claiming that it’s really about “sticking it to the Man” (we’re behind ya, Jack, so long as by “Man” you mean “slutty groupies”)—but watching Jack Black mold these feebs into a bunch of Jack Black juniors is truly heartwarming.

Share