Dir.
Richard Linklater, US, 2004, 108 mins
Cast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman This film rocks - literally. Not only does The School of Rock tick all the comedy boxes, it does it faultlessly. Dewey Finn (Black, Shallow Hal) is in a 'rocking band' - until his penchant for 20-minute solos and stage dives are deemed an embarrassment by the other band members. In need of rent money, and fired from the band, Dewey picks up a phone call intended for his nerdy roommate Ned Schneebly (School of Rock scriptwriter Mike White). Within a few minutes, Dewey is faking it, not only as Schneebly, but also as a substitute teacher. At first Dewey is more concerned with goofing off and having an easy life. 'Who knows what a hangover is?' he asks the kids before telling them to take a permanent recess. But by chance he discovers the class is full of budding musicians, and from there it's just a hop, a jump and a couple of lies to persuade them to take part in the Battle of the Bands contest. First he has to get round the tight-laced principal Rosalie Mullins (Cusack, In and Out) and Ned's acerbic girlfriend Patty (Silverman) who has it in for Dewey in an almost obsessive way. Everything about this film is done just right, even though there was undoubtedly potential for tweeness or cheesiness. 'Never work with kids' might be an old acting adage, but the cast of School of Rock goes some way to proving it wrong. And while scriptwriters often can't help but play up the cuteness of their child stars it's something that White manages to avoid falling foul of. Cusack also plays principal Mullins with sour-faced perfection, but it is Black who carries off the film in a part that was written for him. White and Black were neighbours for three years and screenwriter White had wanted to write a film geared particularly to Black's personality. That much is evident: on screen it's hard to tell if we're watching Black acting as Dewey Finn, or just that Dewey Finn is Jack Black. The 'grifter who must teach a choir to sing' genre (see The Fighting Temptations and Sister Act) is often about change. The underdog hero/ine must help others out in order to help themselves, but en route they often learn something about themselves. While that usually tends to be sickly done, Black pulls it off brilliantly, helped in part by the fact that Finn is just such a likeable character. While there is inevitably a message or two not-so hidden along the way about self-esteem and self-belief, it doesn't fall over itself in a clumsy finale speech. There's something about this film that is smoothly impeccable, from its cool opening titles through to the script, which catches Black's comic 'voice' perfectly. One of the best things about School of Rock, though, is the sheer joy of, and the passion for, music. Not only is there some great music in the soundtrack, but riffs and rock lyrics are melded into the script itself. Dewey Finn, basically, could put anything to music, a talent which he soon passes on to his class along with classic rock stage moves like 'power stance' and 'raise a goblet to the gods of rock'. It's that element that makes this a film not only for kids, but especially also for those who don't shrug blankly at names like Led Zeppelin, the Ramones or Pink Floyd. This film is a definite must-see. It lacks the big bucks and computer assisted design of many a sequel of late, but this is one of those rare films - and a comedy at that - which elicits a round of applause from its audience at the end. Quite possibly they're onto something. Ruth Bushi |
