School of Rock (2003)
"Anything where you've got a bunch
of kids is in danger of turning into an exploding
cheese bomb - with corn pellets flying out of the
cheese..." - Jack Black in the October 2003 "INsite"
magazine
Jack Black is the new Jim Carrey.
He's the new Owen Wilson. He's the new Ben Stiller.
He's simply fucking hilarious. Every word out of his
mouth is a celebration of life. Every other word out
of his mouth is one of the funniest, wittiest, most
clever jabs you've ever heard. This guy is what movies
should be about. Jack Black is everything you could
ever want from a comedy star. And in "The School of
Rock," director Richard Linklater and writer Mike
White use him to head-on full effect.
This is the perfect vehicle for
Black. This is a project tailor-made for him. Black,
for those of you returning from oblivion, is half
of the hilarious mock rock group Tenacious D. (Guess
what the "D" stands for). Fools think that the D is
a joke but fans know that in addition to being the
most humorous and witty band since Spinal Tap, the
players are also rocking musicians. The D may seem
to be for laughs but the biggest guffaw comes from
the fact that Black and his partner Kyle Gass seem
to take the group so seriously and do, indeed, rock
out.
Black's movie career has been a
series of fits and starts. After gaining some momentum
in a supporting role in "High Fidelity," Black has
appeared in a series of films that have failed at
the box office, like "Saving Silverman," the underrated
"Orange County," and the film that should have made
Black a huge star, the Farrelly brothers' "Shallow
Hal." Through it all, he and Glass have continued
to work on projects with the D and will soon release
a DVD comprised not only of the series they had for
a while on HBO but also live concerts, documentaries
and bonus materials. Finally, with "The School of
Rock," Black has a full-fledged film that lives up
to the reputation he earned wit the D. This is the
film that builds perfectly upon his skills and his
public persona. This is Black given the ball and allowed
to run with it. With Linklater and White on his side,
he scores a touchdown easily.
And let's face it, Linklater is
the perfect choice to helm this movie. Spending much
of his time recently enjoying huge critical success
for his "art" films, like "Waking Life" and "Tape,"
Linklater garnered his biggest commercial success
10 years ago with "Dazed and Confused." "School" is
a perfect successor to that earlier film. Like "Dazed,"
the film features an ensemble of young unknowns and
allows them to shine simply by seemingly being themselves.
And like much of his prior work, Linklater's latest
relies highly on music and pop culture to carry the
weight of the message. This is a film that rocks.
This is a film that is not misnamed. Black, Linklater
and White create an ode to the power and the beauty
of rock music and they do so in a way that is accessible,
loving and family-friendly while maintaining an edgy,
balls- to-the-wall sense of rebellion that is inherent
to true rock ideology. It's a tightrope to be sure
yet Black and Linklater make it look easy.
In the film, Black plays an out
of work musician who fakes his way into a gig as a
substitute teacher at a fancy prep school and then
turns his slacker ethos into rock power. Black's character
Dewey discovers the kids have inordinate musical abilities
and begins rehearsing the kids for a rock show, one
he hopes to win, partly for spite at ex-band mates,
partly for the cash prize. While his motives, at first,
are very suspect, Black eventually wins the kids,
the other teachers, the parents and the audience over.
To be sure, Linklater casts the
perfect children in the major youth roles. These kids
not only are consummate actors and musicians (they
really play here), they have beautiful chemistry with
Black. One of the best unions at work here is Black
and Miranda Cosgrove, who plays the kid's band manager,
Summer. (Black is too busy rocking to take part in
the behind-the-scenes part of the "project" and so
he doles out crew jobs to some of the kids who don't
play or sing). Cosgrove is just perfect, hitting the
right amounts of bitchiness while still maintaining
her childish charm. It's a wonderfully full and complex
performance from a young actress. Joey Gaydos is perfect
as Zack, a guitarist of immense talent who needs the
push from Black's Dewey to excel. Zack's father only
wishes him to perform classical pieces and somewhat
berates the boy one morning when Dewey watches from
afar. Never ham-handed or unrealistic, this prodding
from parents seems believable and typical. Black doesn't
go over the top with his reaction either. He simply
lets Zack know there are other options out there and
allows him to explore his own talent on his own terms.
It's awesome. Black also works well with Mariam Hassan,
a shy singer, Robert Tsai, the keyboard player who
insists he isn't cool, and Kevin Clark, the only kid
who seems to rebel easily on his own (but Black teaches
him how to keep it in check).
And while Black never has a really
important scene with Brian Falduto, who plays Billy,
the band stylist, the young actor's work here is wonderful.
Playing a young man who will probably turn out to
identify as gay, Falduto's Billy is accepted by the
other student and no real mention is made of his "difference."
He's just there, like any other kid, a part of the
group and contributing to the experience by doing
what he does best and what he is most interested in.
Sure, like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," one could
argue that the portrayal is stereotypical but, like
that amazing TV show, the point is this: It's a good
stereotype! Billy may be a bit flitty and a bit too
interested in dressing up Kevin like a miniature glam-rock
Bowie, but he is never ridiculed, never mocked, and
never treated as anything but another one of the kids,
their equal. In fact, what works best about the character
is how minute his role is. Billy is neither made butt
of joke nor is he made to be an example in any way.
He's just one of the kids. It's a small point sure,
but one that is so important precisely because it
is so small.
And what about Joan Cusack? Wow!
This is her best performance in a long time. Cusack
is hilarious here. She makes drinking a beer funny.
It's great to see her here and she too has amazing
chemistry with Black. We're almost sorry that they
don't hook up somehow when all is said and done.
Of course, there are others that
don't fare as well. While White, whom I have despised
since he wrote "The Good Girl," takes on a small role
(as he insists on doing in the films he's written),
he does almost nothing with it. He's playing a sop,
so at least he's well cast. But the biggest disappointment
of all is Sarah Silverman who plays White's overbearing
girlfriend. A cliche and written as a caricature,
the girlfriend is, at least, kept realistic and human
by Silverman. It's just a shame that she has no funny
moments in the film, really. When is this girl going
to get to play a warm and amusing romantic lead? She
could be quite stunning given a chance.
"The School of Rock" is the perfect
post-modern family comedy. Kids should love the kid
characters and see themselves in the film. They'll
also relate to the antics of Black and the spirit
of the story. For adults, there is all this and more.
The teaching of our beloved rock music is nothing
short of heart-filling. For those of us who love 70's
rock and punk, Black's character's love of the music
is exactly the kind of thing we hope we could share
with our children. And he's funny and cool and dorky
and perfect in the role. Black embodies the spirit
of rebellion and the love of rock while maintaining
a good example and a drug-free coda. He's dorky and
cool at the same time, safe yet not sanitized, insightful
yet not pedantic and rebellious yet not anti-social.
"The School of Rock" is an awesome
film, as awesome as "Mr. Holland's Opus" in its spirit
and its love of music. The fact that the song the
kids play isn't all that great is as irrelevant as
the fact that Mr. Holland's actual opus performed
at the end of that movie isn't that great either.
It's the spirit that counts, the heart of it all.
Jack Black's got the biggest heart to come along in
a movie in a long time. (And that's not a fat joke!)
Notes:
Nicky Katt and Timothy "Speed" Levitch,
Linklater regulars, have cameos. Where's Wiley?
Filmed somewhere other than Austin,
which is a shame.
The film begins with the words "Paramount
Pictures Presents" in studs on the back of a guy's
leather jacket as the camera follows him into a club.
This may or may not be an homage to Kenneth Anger's
"Scorpio Rising." Black, Linklater and White's credits
are on posters on the wall of the club.
AC/DC's "Long Way to the Top" is
performed by Black and the kids as are some originals.
A couple of songs by The Ramones are used to great
effect and they are shown in photos and mentioned.
Numerous other rock groups are also shown and mentioned.
Although the film is officially
called "School of Rock," the band name in the film
is "THE School of Rock."
The film had posters that mimicked
the cover of a "Rolling Stone" magazine and probably
set a record for the number of taglines for a single
film. Some I can remember include "Take Notes," "Mr.
Black - Accept no Substitutes," "Cum on Feel the Noize,"
and "We Don't Need no Education."
Viewed in October 2003 in Austin
with my roomie Amanda, who had already seen it once.
