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By
WAYNE KLEIN
After being kicked out of
his own band prior to the "Battle of the Bands,"
Dewey Finn's (Jack Black) desperation reaches a
fevered pitch; he has no money, no way to earn
any, and no way to compete with his old band and
take home the prize money. Plus his roommate's
controlling girlfriend wants Dewey kicked out of
their apartment. That all changes with a single
phone call: Dewey pretends to be his roommate Mike
(Mike White) and takes the job of substitute
teacher at a private school. Dewey soon discovers
that teaching is much harder than playing air
guitar. The competitive kids appear restless and
ill-at-ease doing nothing. And Dewey has no luck
recruiting for his new band. Until he discovers
his class practicing classical music in the music
room. An idea blooms full blown in his mind, like
a bad heavy metal song. The kids will be his
backing band.
An inspired collision of indie sensibilities and
Hollywood, the delightful "School of Rock" finally
gives talented performer Black both a role he can
sink his teeth into and one where he can
demonstrate the chops he's honed as a member of
Tenacious D. Black looks like a demonic Joe Cocker
(prior to the beard, of course) or Angus Young
(AC/DC) after an eating binge. Black literally
lights the movie up from within due to his
infectious energy and humor. The screenplay by
co-star Mike White ("The Good Girl") was written
specifically with Black in mind. Indie director
Richard Linklater doesn't go the easy route; he
makes Dewey into a likable slob who misleads,
manipulates and twists everyone around so he can
obtain his goal. Ultimately, Dewey is undone by
his roommate's girlfriend otherwise he would have
taken the charade all the way to its conclusion.
Like "The Commitments" (the film this most closely
resembles), "School of Rock" is at its best in the
sequences where Dewey works with the class. Joan
Cusack dives right into the heart of the uptight
principal Rosalie Mullins and the scenes between
her and Dewey are delightfully funny and charming
-- the best sequence between them involves Dewey
asking her out for a drink so he can get her
drunk. He's hoping to talk her into letting him
take the kids out on a fieldtrip (really the
audition for the "Battle of the Bands") by getting
her to sing along to Stevie Nick's "Edge of
Seventeen." It's a crack up to see Cusack belt out
the song in the biker bar that Dewey takes her to.
The kids in the movie all give great performances
too. They appear natural and clearly are having a
ball playing their roles, as well as the
instruments in the movie.
Although this is an anamorphic widescreen
transfer, the picture quality isn't quite up to
what I've become accustomed to. It has good
clarity but there is a lack of depth and the
picture appears muted, almost subdued compared to
the theatrical showing I attended (although it may
have more to do with the cinematography or the
rather muted colors of fall that dominate the
outdoor sequences, somehow, I don't think so). But
there are no analog artifacts to speak of, and the
sound is nicely mixed, taking full advantage of
the 5.1 and surround channels.
Lots of marvelous extras crop up under the special
features menu: Almost everyone is worth watching
more than once. Black's "Pitch to Led Zeppelin"
shows him begging the band to let the production
use "Immigrant Song" for the film. It's very funny
and clocks in at just the perfect length at 3
minutes. "MTV's Diary of Jack Black" captures
Black at his most outrageous (for television) and
comedic best. His partner in his parody band
Tenacious D also appears in the video as well, and
they strum an assortment of oddly titled songs. We
also have the usual theatrical trailer and a
section that "discusses" the lessons learned from
the movie.
The interactive features are almost as fun as the
special features: "Dewey Finn's History of Rock"
is surprisingly accurate -- and funny as well. The
original theatrical web site appears as an archive
on the disc, but is only accessible as a DVD-ROM
feature. Again, it's worthwhile and has a number
of funny bits worth taking a look at. Listening to
Black and director Linklater's commentary track is
entertaining enough to make you watch the film a
couple of times. There's also a charming
commentary track provided by the kids from the
movie. Both commentary tracks are witty and
entertaining, adding another dimension to the
film.
You'll have a blast watching "School of Rock" on
DVD. Although the ending of the film is a bit
unbelievable, think of it as the Hollywood
compromise. It's a small price to pay for such an
engaging and hilarious movie. By the end of
"School of Rock" you'll want to be in the band. |
