Word: deweyitis
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...inversely related to his girth. Fortunately, the producers of School of Rock have forged an ideal vehicle for Black’s brand of mischief, and with a sturdy cast and script behind him, he manages to whip up some of the biggest laughs of the year. Black plays Dewey Finn, a guitarist thrown out of his band, rendering him even less capable of paying the rent that he owes his substitute teacher roommate. Posing as his roommate, he assumes the responsibility of educating a classroom of unusually well-behaved fifth graders, who he discovers to be, rather conveniently, excellent...
...inversely related to his girth. Fortunately, the producers of School of Rock have forged an ideal vehicle for Black’s brand of mischief, and with a sturdy cast and script behind him, he manages to whip up some of the biggest laughs of the year. Black plays Dewey Finn, a guitarist thrown out of his band, rendering him even less capable of paying the rent that he owes his substitute teacher roommate. Posing as his roommate, he assumes the responsibility of educating a classroom of unusually well-behaved fifth graders, who he discovers to be, rather conveniently, excellent...
...Dewey Finn, hard-rockin' guitarist, has the music in him. It's just that no one wants it to get out. His bandmates aren't crazy about his three-hour solos, nor is the audience. When Dewey throws himself into a mosh pit of revelers, no one catches him. Fired by the band, he holes up with a friend who is too meek to say no but who does suggest that Dewey help with the rent by selling one of his guitars. The artiste is aghast: "Would you ask Picasso to sell one of his guitars...
...Since Dewey is played by Jack Black, in whose short, round frame the Tasmanian Devil apparently resides--and since his friend is played by this film's writer, Mike White, who also scripted High Fidelity and TV's Freaks and Geeks, and since the director is Richard Linklater of Dazed and Confused fame--you might guess that The School of Rock is a skeptical, slackery satire with spasms of irony and angst. You'd be wrong. The movie is a joyous, sloppy, quasi-inspirational comedy that means to stride down the middle of the road, gathering all significant movie demographics...
...Dewey, desperate for work, bluffs his way into a job as a substitute teacher at a stuffy private school. Being ignorant of any subject fifth-graders might be taught, he instead initiates a class rock-band project with the idea of entering his charges in a citywide battle of the bands. He auditions the students and finds a few musicians. Others he designates as backup singers or security detail. The movie's assignment for one kid was apparently to represent every gay stereotype a prepubescent boy could embody; he asks to be in charge of "fashion and decorating" and proclaims...