...you may find yourself, as I did, far more interested in the kids than in Jack.
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I guess if you had to think of a film as being charming and obnoxious at the same time, you might arrive at "School of Rock." I look at it as a "beauty-and-the-beast" type film: the kids being the beauty and Jack Black being the obvious beast.
No matter how humorous and outrageous the moments are in this film, I still can't understand Jack Black. He seems to be very animated but in an insane manner that is somewhat close to vicious. I think he best falls into the category of past greats such as John Belushi, Sam Kinison, or Chris Farley. He definitely plays the party-animal role to perfection. Hopefully, Black is not headed down the same path as any of those past greats, though. He certainly has an immense field open to him for these kinds of roles, but I fear he may become a victim of stereotyping. I will admit, however, he plays the half-cocked, head-banging boozer role very well.
The kids are very charming on their own, too, and literally do more than enough to keep the film from becoming a complete disaster. They add such a pleasant balance that it gives the film a bit of warmth and subtle grace. I liked the combination of Jack's world colliding with the kids' environment, even though it seemed too far-fetched to ever happen. Nevertheless, you may find yourself, as I did, far more interested in the kids than in Jack. I personally thought Jack's humor became very redundant and lacked anything short of dynamics. If acting like a raging psycho for ninety minutes is supposed to be hilarious, then I guess I am behind the times. I found it funny at first, but then it became repetitive. I think it would be safe to say that the kids saved the movie for me. Had it not been for them, I might have completely lost interest. Without their delightful touch, this may have turned out to be the worst film Jack Black's been in, but, instead, it's probably his best film to date.
Jack plays Dewey Finn, a bar-band guitar player who lives off his friend Ned Schneebly (writer Mike White). Dewey and Ned used to be in a band together when Ned actually had a full head of hair. Dewey is your typical lowlife, beer-drinking, highly obnoxious party animal. At the start of the film, he gets fired from his band, and to make matters worse, he has no income. But the plot thickens as we find out his friend, Ned, works as a substitute school teacher. One morning, Dewey answers a phone call meant for Ned and decides to pose as Ned in order to get a subbing job. Dewey figures teaching can't be all that tough and at $600 a week, what would he have to lose? Dewey arrives at a private school and is met by the school administrator, Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack). Rosalie is known for being a lightweight drinker, according to others. Rosalie never bothers to ask for any credentials from Dewey and escorts him directly to the classroom. I really found this part a little hard to swallow. With the way security is these days, I doubt there's a shred of truth to what was represented in the film.
Dewey, posing as Ned, enters a room of eleven-to-twelve year old kids. Here we are introduced to a group of very charming adolescents. First, we have our soon-to-be band members, Zack on lead guitar (Joey Gaydos), Freddy Jones on drums (Kevin Alexander Clark), Lawrence on keyboards (Robert Tsai), and Katie on bass (Rebecca Brown). Of course, Dewey plays as the band's lead singer and second guitar player. The amazing thing about the kids in the band is that they actually play musical instruments. They truly are a bunch of talented kids with a lot of spirit. Let me not forget the little ham that steals the show, Summer Hathaway (Miranda Cosgrove). Summer is the perfect example of a growing control freak. She's very clever and even blackmails her way into the job of "band manager." As much as she was painted as being the little brat you should hate, I ended up loving her. Out of all the kids, Miranda Cosgrove's part as Summer stands out the best for me. She was simply delightful, and I should think she has a bright future ahead of her.
Dewey is faced with the dilemma of wanting to show his old band members he can rock, and he needs to make enough money to pay rent to his friend Ned. Conveniently, there just happens to be a battle of the bands contest, and the winner is paid a cash prize with a recording contract to boot. I'm sure you can guess where this is going. Dewey uses the kids to create his own rock band, and along the way he teaches them the virtues and values of rock-'n'-roll. In one of the lessons he passes out music CDs of Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, and Jimmy Hendrix. I had a good laugh at that scene, but I also realized I was just laughing at myself since I own every CD he passed out. Dewey also teaches the children what it means to stick it to "The Man." The Man, of course, being the government, authority, Eddie, and Miss Mullins. He shows them how to put on their mean face and stick it to "The Man"! However, all Dewey's creative antics are soon to catch up to him, and it's only a matter of time before he's exposed for whom he really is.
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[release]11631[/release]