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I remember seeing a trailer for this movie a while back and thinking “there’s one movie I won’t need to go and see”. Well, last night this horrible waste of celluloid turned out to be the Sneak Preview movie…
I’ve never been a Jack Black fan. He seems to enjoy being in the most tasteless, offensive movies, and on top of that he can’t act. This movie is a mix of “Mr. Holland’s Opus”, “Dangerous Minds” and “Wayne’s World”, with a thick layer of Jack Black sauce.
Jack plays a hopeless wannabe rock guitar player who lies his way into a teaching job to pay the rent. At first he just lets the kids in his class goof off, until he listens in on their music lesson, and decides to recruit a new rock band among these ten-year-olds. The school of Rock. Yaawwwnn…
The only thing I like about this movie were the kids. 
They were darn cute, outperformed Black hands down, and they actually played their respective instruments (watch the end titles if you’re still in the theatre!). Oh, and “The Wait” by Metallica is on the soundtrack. Cool track!
Rated 1/2 (out of 5). Worst movie of 2004 so far, and it might still be january, but this one will be hard to beat!
Roy (114 posts)Web designer and programmer, movie fanatic and devoted dad from Huizen, The Netherlands.
10 Comments
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Hmm, would it make a difference if one would actually LIKE Jack Black. I find him kinda funny. He is one of those comedians with that abbrasive, blunt kind of humor (in the tradition of Chris Farley and Adam Sandler). I also like his music.
Maybe it is like those people who loathe Jim Carrey (I love this guy!): they cannot watch one movie with him, as he is very PRESENT in those.
Comment by paco — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 15:12Why doesn’t this review surprise me… I am glad I was confirmed in my supsicions after reading review… Can you believe this movie actually plays at the Rotterdam Film Festival?
Comment by Arjan — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 19:00Blacks character seems similar to the one in ‘High Fidelity’. It was OK as a supporting role, but an entire film. I don’t know.
Comment by reisneus — Tue January 27, 2004 @ 18:50oh come on people! don’t take yourself too seriously.. this is a comedy, take it like one.
this has been the breakthrough that jack black should have received right after he stars in ‘high fidelity’, the one that shows him for that music maniac with rolling eyes a la john belushi.
i find him as a great talent in ‘high fidelity’, never failed to crack me up. but after that.. ‘orange county’ and ‘shallow hal’ is just sheer dissapointment.
but ‘school of rock’? come on, you didn’t even mention richard linklater (‘dazed and confused’, ‘waking life’, ‘tape’) as the director, and what about joan cusack as the principal? at least, she deserves SOME credit.
i think this movie is honest about what it is or what it’s trying to ‘achieve’ (if there is something to be achieved other than great fun), unlike… ‘the last samurai’?
Comment by gerry — Wed January 28, 2004 @ 16:21me again, just an addition:
weefselkweekje, one true fact: jack black was nominated for a Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical through this movie.
he lost to bill murray for ‘lost in translation’; oh well.. who could beat mr.murray at that point of his acting achievement. but at least, black did get an appreciation for his acting ability.
Comment by gerry — Wed January 28, 2004 @ 16:37Well, to some this movie might indeed ‘achieve great fun’. To me it didn’t. Black might have been funny in supporting roles, but like with Jay and Silent Bob, an entire movie is another thing alltogether. On top of that I found Joan Cusack a great disappointment in this movie. I didn’t even realise Linklater has made great films in the past. Let’s hope this is not the direction he’s going…
Comment by weefselkweekje — Thu January 29, 2004 @ 8:43are u kidding? school of rock was the best movie! the dvd features are awesome, jack black was funny, and the kids were great. i disagree with this review. i loved the school of rock
Comment by FAN — Sun March 28, 2004 @ 2:32I LOVE SCHOOL OF ROCK
Comment by Anonymous — Sat April 17, 2004 @ 4:11Ok, here goes. I thought this film was pretty good. In fact, I love almost everything Richard Linklater’s done and I think this is his best film since Dazed and Confused. It is easily the best thing Jack Black’s ever done.
The film is heartwarming, hilarious and doesn’t take itself even remotely seriously. Linklater knows the genre he’s working with and follows the typical structure to the letter, but with a knowing wink. You all know where this film is going, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Joan Cusack is wonderfully quirky as always and the kids they found are so ridiculously talented it’s untrue. What makes Black’s performance so great is that, although he’s in almost every frame and flips out as often as he can, he’s not afraid to give the kids room to work. There’s a lot of great work by him in this film, but if you don’t like Jack Black – then you won’t like this. Poor you.
Comment by damian — Fri August 27, 2004 @ 10:29SCHOOL OF ROCK IS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS EVER
Comment by school of rock — Thu November 2, 2006 @ 22:02