School of Rock
Published September 03, 2004
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
In the end, the parents are won over. All they needed was a chance to watch their kids dress in ridiculous outfits and play back-up to a sad, desperate man. Dewey and the kids loose the Battle of the Bands, but like Walter Matthau's team in The Bad News Bears, they end up celebrating anyway.
Some apologists for the movie claim it's a parody, but this is just a rationalization. There's absolutely nothing in School of Rock to indicate it shouldn't be taken at face value. Most likely, these people are fans of Richard Linkletter who don't want to admit that he's made a predictable, pedestrian Hollywood film.
School of Rock really is just a showcase for Jack Black, so its success relies solely on how much you enjoy his shtick. It's a light-hearted film, with a typical heart-warming life lesson in which Black connects with his students. But expecting the forging of a connection with kids to be automatically perceived as a victory is yet one more assumption made by the filmmakers.
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Those who have already taken this well-trodden path (the interesting ones, anyway):
Marty Dodge, Steven Rubio, Eric Olsen
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- School of Rock
- Published: September 03, 2004
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Comedy
- Writer: Paul De Angelis
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Comments on this articleComments
Dude, you need to put on some AC/DC and learn to enjoy life, what are you, some kind of navel gazing emo-fan?
Tom's right, I thnk you missed the broadly sarcastic tone of the film.
BTW, the parents of the kids in the film would be about the right age, minus 15 or so years, to have been rockin' out in a Camaro on the way to the mall, no wonder they would like to see their kids rock out.
Good critique. Saw this film in the same week end as Memento - do yourself a favour, ignore School of Rock (too predictable, rehashed, cliche) and see Memento (unpredictable, original - a good derivation of Rashamon).
I thought School of Rock was a fun popcorn movie. No, it wasn't a great movie, but it was worthwhile for an hour or so of entertainment. Jack Black cannot be taken too seriously, he's sort of like Adam Sandler but on a much smaller scale.
This review, though well written and factually accurate, seems to ignore the fact that a percentage of movie-goers enjoy fun, mostly implausible and predictable popcorn movies like this. On the action side there are movies like Cellular to whet these same appetite. Right or wrong, this audience exists ... and sating them is part of the Hollywood movie machine.
Just saw Mr. 3000 and that movie needed more of the fun factor that was in School of Rock, actually.
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This is a parody of all those "teacher shows kids the really important lessons in life" movies. It sounds like you took this film very seriously and missed out on most of the fun. Too bad. Maybe you can give yourself some time away from this and come back later to view it with the thought in mind that it's a parody.
Oh, and count me as another of those who have reviewed this.