Cheap School of Rock (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack) (Richard Linklater) Price

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Customer Reviews of School of Rock (Widescreen Edition)

He's gross and unhinged, but he rocks!
Jack Black is the star of the hit movie, "School of Rock". He plays an unemployed rock musician named Dewey Finn who is abruptly dumped by his band before a big performance. Dewey has an encyclopedic knowledge of rock music, which is his life's passion. Unfortunately, he has no income, and he is on the verge of being tossed out on the street by his long-suffering friend, Ned, for not paying his rent. Desperate for a buck, Dewey poses as Ned to get a substitute-teaching gig in a fancy prep school.

Sounds logical, right? Try this on for size. Dewey knows nothing about teaching, so he organizes his tightly wound and upwardly mobile students into a rock band. The versatile Joan Cusack plays the buttoned-down and intense principal, Rosalie Mullins, who is oblivious to the raucous sounds emanating from Dewey's classroom.

Why does "School of Rock" work, considering that it is so preposterous? First of all, the director, Richard Linklater, tailored the movie around the special talents of the manic Jack Black. Black's uninhibited acting style is perfect for this role and his unbridled enthusiasm helps the audience to go with the flow. Not for one second did I believe that any of the goings-on in this movie could happen in our galaxy, but I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. The physical comedy is marvelous. The children who play Dewey's students are appealing. There are even several touching scenes, especially one in which Dewey encourages a heavy-set student to accept herself the way she is and to be proud of her considerable talent.

"School of Rock" has plenty of conventional elements, but the far from conventional Jack Black is an absolute hoot. Put your brain on hold and be prepared for a rocking good time when you see the entertaining and lively "School of Rock".

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Upbeat Comedy that Kids and Adults Will Enjoy.
Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is a rock guitarist who has recently been fired by his band. Desperate for cash, he poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. But Dewey doesn't know the first thing about teaching, so he's at a loss for anything academic to do. When he learns that many of his 5th-grade students are accomplished musicians, he decides to give these straight-laced kids a lesson in rock-n-roll. He turns the class into a rock band, complete with road crew, a security detail, and groupies. The whole class pitches in to get the band in shape to compete in the city's Battle of the Bands.

"School of Rock" was directed by Richard Linklater and written by Mike White, who also plays Dewey's roommate Ned in the film. This movie is just a lot of fun. It was tailor-made for Jack Black, so it perfectly exploits his over-the-top sense of humor and physical comedy. "School of Rock" manages to pay tribute to rock-n-roll while making fun of its more histrionic and self-indulgent clichés. It's all in good fun, though. Jack Black is funny and lovable as a reckless rocker who has unwittingly taken on considerable responsibility. Joan Cusack contributes one of her many memorable comedic performances as the uptight principal of the school, Miss Mullins. The child actors who play musicians were themselves chosen for their musical talent. Thankfully the film doesn't fake the kids playing the instruments. They are all accomplished musicians, and it's nice to see so much young talent on the screen. Young members of the audience will be encouraged to see that real kids can rock too. "School of Rock" is a lot of silly fun -but in a good way. It's a movie that both children and adults can enjoy. (By the way, in most parts of the world, this film got a G or PG rating.)

The DVD: This is a nicely loaded disc. Bonus features include a making-of documentary called "Lessons Learned", "Jack Black's Pitch to Led Zeppelin" is which he begs the band for permission to use the "Immigrant Song" in the movie, a music video for the film's theme song, "Kid's Video Diary: Toronto Film Festival", "MTV's Diary of Jack Black", a DVD-ROM (Windows only) that contains Dewey's History of Rock and an archive of the film's website, 2 audio commentaries, and a theatrical trailer. "Lessons Learned" is a decent documentary, and it features interviews with Jack Black, Mike White, Richard Linklater, and some of the kids. Jack Black fans will like "MTV's Diary of Jack Black", which spends one day in L.A. with the actor as he goes to rehearsals for the movie and works on new material for Tenacious D. One of the audio commentaries features Jack Black and Richard Linklater. It's entertaining, but there isn't much technical stuff if that 's what you're looking for. The other audio commentary features 7 of the child actors. It's chaotic, but it's interesting to hear the kids' point of view. One of the funniest things is that they've memorized all the punch lines from the movie. If you're interested in the kids, also check out the "Kids Video Diary: Toronto Film Festival", which follows the principal child actors for about 12 hours on the day of the film's screening at the Film Festival. Subtitles are available, for the film, in English. And dubbing is available in French.

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PREDICTABLE, BUT SO WHAT? A FUN RIDE.
The storyline is predictable, farfetched, and things get a bit cute and fluffy, but I still enjoyed this movie. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it again to listen to the Director's and Jack Black's commentaries, then again to hear the kids'. The kids' comments aren't earth shattering, mostly limited to "I remember filming that," giggling, and reciting dialogue in time with the movie, but once in a while they'll say something interesting.

A nice thing about this movie is that Black and the performing kids really do have musical talents. These folks are the real deal, not poser wannabes like the Partridge Family kids who don't even know how to hold instruments, much less play them. If you check out the DVD's extras you'll learn that the instrument-playing kids are talented musicians in real life who had to learn how to act, not actors who had to learn how to fake playing instruments. I thought they did a great job with the acting and the music. Also, Black is no slouch when it comes to music, and does a credible job portraying the crazy phony substitute teacher. He reminds me a bit of SNL's John Belushi and Chris Farley in the way that he attacks his character with wild abandon, never holding anything back. Whether he's improvising with the kids a song about not getting allowance, or stage diving into the audience during a concert, Black does so with "Farley Conviction."

The extras on the DVD are pretty nice but I was hoping for deleted scenes. Both commentary tracks mention certain scenes that got axed that sound interesting. Bios on the cast would've been nice, too.

It's not a terribly innovative film, but I found it to be a fun ride and a nice escape. Makes me wish I was 10 years old, playing in a rock band, and had a goofy, likable teacher like Black.