Review
SCHOOL OF ROCK
Starring Jack Black, Joan Cusack and the coolest kids in the universe
Written by Mike White
Directed by Richard Linklater
Now showing
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Usually, when a formerly foul-mouthed comedian teams up with a group of precocious pre-pubescents for anarchic lunacy, the tepid film that hits the multiplex screen looks a lot like Eddie Murphy in an actor’s purgatory. But when Jack Black is the man of the hour and he’s supported by a bunch of spoiled preppies casting off their private school attitude for the raw power of three-chord rock ’n’ roll action, you might as well have the hammer of the gods wailing on your funny bone.
School of Rock may be the most ludicrous film released yet this year, but it’s also the most irreverent and subversive comedy to come out of Hollywood in ages. Black plays Dewy Finn, a musician whose rock-star aspirations unfortunately outstrip his talent. Forced to come up with rent money, Dewy impersonates his mild-mannered roommate Ned Schneebly (Mike White, who also wrote the screenplay), and scams a substitute-teaching job at the prestigious Forest Green Preparatory School, which is presided over by the tight-assed principal, Ms. Mullins (Joan Cusack).
Soon, Dewy-cum-Schneebly is leading his uptight charges down the highway to hell, teaching them the meaning of life through power-chords and driving bass-lines. Granted, the premise is as silly as it sounds, but in the hands of the supercharged Black, this material becomes the cinematic equivalent of dumb-ass garage rock – beautiful in its simplicity and infectious as hell. In a sense, Black is taking his role as the dangerously obsessed music geek in High Fidelity completely over the top, but I could watch his intensely hammy freak-outs all day and never stop laughing – hence the appeal of this movie.
Of course, Black is ably supported by Cusack, White and, most of all, the kids, who are particularly fun to watch as they transform from snotty prep-schoolers into snotty rock ’n’ rollers. But it’s Black who’s driving this vehicle, and director Richard Linklater (Waking Life, Dazed and Confused) knows when to let him loose – which is often and with giddy glee.
Given Linklater’s pedigree, it’s initially surprising to see his name associated with this picture, but after the credits have rolled, his influence is obvious. As with Waking Life, School of Rock is about casting off the bonds of social propriety to think independently and live a life free from conformity to absurd norms. All this in a PG-rated movie set to a rock ’n’ roll soundtrack – featuring The Modern Lovers, AC/DC, T-Rex, Ramones and the Who, among others – suggests that the much-ballyhooed rock revival may yet infiltrate the malleable minds of today’s youth.
While the film maintains a slightly moralistic message about great teachers touching kids and being touched by them (no, you silly perv, not like that), it is primarily an anti-authoritarian call to arms to kids of all ages to pick up an axe and rage against the machine. I wanna be anarchy, too, Mr. Black! |
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