School of Rock (2003)

Originally Reviewed

Saturday November 25, 2006

A really good comedy that's enjoyable for the whole family is quite hard to come by now a days. You're either limited to animated films, which are geared towards kids and not always the forte of most adults, or you have the incredibly vulgar films which aren't appropriate for kids and sometimes simply not appropriate at all. It's not very often you get an exceptionally entertaining film and everyone can enjoy, School of Rock is one of those films.

Jack Black plays Dewey a washed up wannabe rock star whose recently been kicked out of his own band only weeks before the Battle of the Bands competition. His roommates' girlfriend is constantly at his throat about how much of a loser he is and tells her boyfriend to kick him out or she'll leave him. Not wanting to lose the only girlfriend he'll probably ever have Dewey’s roommate tells him he needs to come up with the rent money he owes him or he's going to have to leave. Desperate, Dewy attempts to sell one of his guitars but isn't able to find someone willing to pay a good price. Everything seems lost, until he gets a lucky break.

Dewey receives a phone call from a local private elementary school requesting the services of substitute teacher Ned Schneebly (Dewey's roommate). Dewey decides to impersonate Ned and make some easy money babysitting a class of kids for a few weeks, except these are no ordinary group of kids. Dewey's luck is about to change when he discovers that the kids in his class are musical geniuses. So taking his chances Dewey proceeds to form his new band for the Battle of the Bands competition, consisting of him and a group of classically trained elementary students.

The biggest challenge is teaching these prep school kids about rock and roll, since most of them have never listened to it. The second biggest challenge is keeping this "class project" a secret from the principal and all the parents, if they ever found out what was going on, and that Dewey wasn't a teacher, he'd be busted.

Another rare occasion where I don't have a whole lot to say about a film because it really speaks for itself. A film with Jack Black and a group of kids shouldn't be a total surprise when it turns out to be an instant classic. It's a setup that almost always works, take Kindergarten Cop for example. It's the interaction between Black and the kids that make this film hilarious, as well as the numerous music scenes. Overall, this film is terrifically written, with great acting, a very entertaining ending, and it's important to note that these kids actually did play those instruments; so they are that good. Check this film out if you haven't already, its one of the few comedies that I can continue to watch and enjoy as much as I did the first viewing which makes it one of my all-time favorites.

10/10