School of Rock (2003)

Simply A Masterpiece

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A lot of fun.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The School Of RockJack Black carries this musical show on its back all through the movie with the help of Richard and his magic box that has some unusual characters and also offers some great music.

Jack Black stars as a failed rock musician who in financial desperation, pretends to be his friend Mike White and takes a job as a substitute teacher at a prestigious private elementary school. Having no qualification, he initially treats it as an opportunity to goof of, until he realizes that his students are fairly gifted musicians. He trains them to be a rock band so that he can enter a battle of the bands competition and get revenge on his former band mates who kicked him out. Do I even need to tell you that Black learns to care about these kids? There's really nothing original here, but Black is in his element here and makes the material work. He gets some pretty solid support from Joan Cusack as the school principal. It's hardly among Richard Linklater's best films, but his relaxed, stoner style is well suited for the material.

After being kicked out of a rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of a strict elementary private school, only to try and turn it into a rock band. The School of Rock is without a doubt one of my favorite Jack Black films, his performance is fun and smooth as the wind he is hilarious but also dramatic when he wants to. The kids also do an amazing job as well with their talent both on deliver their lines but also play some Rock N'Roll and let me say the soundtrack of the film is terrific you hear so many great new and old songs from the Past and the Present but also some original ones such as the one that the whole Band sing. Joan Cusack gives an excellent and funny performance as the Principal of the School too. This is without a doubt Richard Linklater's Best Film and i just wonder why they never made a 2nd one? But then again sequels fail to deliver most of the time and having just this one? Is better than not having it. (A+)

It is clear from fairly early on in "School of Rock" that its primary purpose is to showcase the manic acting talents of Jack Black over everything else. Oftentimes, that can lead to a rather shallow movie (as the plot and auxiliary characters aren't fleshed out as they should be), but in this case the film still ends up being rather entertaining because of the novelty and the music.For a basic plot summary, "School of Rock" tells the story of Dewey Finn (Black), a middle-aged man who crashes (never paying the rent) at the home of enabling friend Ned (Mike White). You see, Dewey still harbors the rock-and-roll band fantasies of his youth despite the fact that his prospects do not look great. One day, however, Dewey intercepts a substitute teaching call for Ned and assumes his identity, showing up completely unprepared at a fancy prep academy for grade school-ers. The one thing Dewey does know how to do/teach? Rock.Like I said, "School of Rock" is primarily a vehicle to showcase Black's manic style of performing, and it does that very well. Black never loses energy in a single scene, and his "Legend of the Rent" performance in front of his pupils (shot all in one take) is one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on film! I feel like watching too much of Black would be exhausting, but contained in this single movie it is a rush of energy.Two other aspects of the film really keep it entertaining: -The basic concept (teaching children how to rock) has never really been done before, at least that I've on. It is entertaining to see the students go from stuck up preppies to confident rockers over the course of the film.-The music, which is always upbeat and fun to listen to. During the times in the film where the plot drags or becomes a bit too corny, there's always that next musical number right around the corner to look forward to.So, I can consider "School of Rock" very entertaining despite its obvious limitations (being a vehicle film, having a super-cheesy plot, etc.). It won't rocket to the top of any "best of" lists, but it will create a few iconic music-movie moments. As long as you aren't expecting something deep, you'll have fun watching this!