School of Rock

PREMIERE.COM REVIEW(posted 10/03/03)
With the curious combination of Richard Linklater (Slacker, Waking Life) directing, Mike White (The Good Girl, Chuck & Buck) writing, and Jack Black (Shallow Hal, High Fidelity) starring, School of Rock could have been many things. What it turns out to be, however, is an unexpectedly exuberant, only mildly subversive celebration of music, learning, and going all out for what you love.

Black plays Dewey Finn, a die-hard rock fan who’s just been kicked out of the band he founded. Desperate for rent money, he poses as his substitute-teacher roommate (White) and takes on a class of fifth-graders at a straitlaced prep school. He has no interest in traditional education—he dismisses “maaattthh” with disgust—and is perfectly content to let his class sit and do nothing. But once he finds out that his classroom is packed with musical talent, he dreams up a project called “the band,” and proceeds to coach these kids into a well-oiled rock machine—complete with light show and smoke effects. He wants to win a local battle of the bands; the ultra-competitive students think they’ll be up against other elementary schools.

Black’s Dewey is a bit of a relic—his students know Christina Aguilera and Puff Daddy, not Jimmi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin—but his tirades about the spirit of rock ’n’ roll and rising up against “the man” resonate with the pint-sized rockers (for whom, more often than not, “the man” is “Mom and Dad”). The relaxed, easy performances of the young cast members (who are actual musicians) nicely counter Black’s frenzied energy. The filmmakers chose a great age group for the story and cast it well; the kids are distinctive, interesting, and appealing without being movie-cute. And perennial scene-stealer Joan Cusack is hilarious as the school’s high-strung principal.

The unconventional pairing of Linklater, White, and Black has produced a comedy that’s light and snarky and funny and fresh—a “feel-good” movie that should never be saddled with that term. When the kids finally take the stage to compete, they do so with passion, and it's a joy to watch. Dewey’s enthusiasm for music has transformed him into a teacher after all. One who rocks.

—Kelly Borgeson