Tarrasque Wrangler
First Post
May contain spoilers
The GF and I went to a sneak preview screening of Jack Black's new comedy "School of Rock" last night. Verrrrrry funny. Great mix of ages in the audience. I know I was a little nervous when I saw how many kids were in the audience, as Jack Black isn't known for his family films. But the movie's humor is fairly clean (they say "ass" a lot and a word that rhymes with "witch" is mouthed by one character) without being condescending or cloying to adults.
Quick plot rundown: Jack Black plays the newly-fired guitarist of a band who impersonates his substitute-teacher roommate to earn some rent money. When he finds out his uptight private school class has some musical talent, he teaches them rock music so he can mold them into his new backing band, to show up his old group at the Battle of the Bands.
It's a formula that's been used in hundreds of movies but it works here because of the genuine humor and heart in the script. At first, yeah, he's using these kids for his own ends, but he also sees it as his crusade to see that these children learn how to rock. The need to educate people on what good music sounds like is something most rock freaks (like myself) can identify with. The overall message of the film is that everyone has a rocker in them somewhere trying to get out, and this is a statement I wholeheartedly agree with.
Jack Black is much better here in a starring role than he was in "Shallow Hal". He's got that good-natured goober thing down, but his transformation over the course of the film is neither sappy nor unbelievable. Joan Cusack has a very funny supporting role as his tightly-wound principal with a weakness for Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen". A large cast of mostly-very good child actors portray his class. Whenever I see a movie with child acting this good I want to smack George Lucas, but that's a review for another day.
***1/2 out of ****. Go see it next weekend. Great movie for kids as well as adults (I plan on taking my 12-year old punk rock kid brother).
The GF and I went to a sneak preview screening of Jack Black's new comedy "School of Rock" last night. Verrrrrry funny. Great mix of ages in the audience. I know I was a little nervous when I saw how many kids were in the audience, as Jack Black isn't known for his family films. But the movie's humor is fairly clean (they say "ass" a lot and a word that rhymes with "witch" is mouthed by one character) without being condescending or cloying to adults.
Quick plot rundown: Jack Black plays the newly-fired guitarist of a band who impersonates his substitute-teacher roommate to earn some rent money. When he finds out his uptight private school class has some musical talent, he teaches them rock music so he can mold them into his new backing band, to show up his old group at the Battle of the Bands.
It's a formula that's been used in hundreds of movies but it works here because of the genuine humor and heart in the script. At first, yeah, he's using these kids for his own ends, but he also sees it as his crusade to see that these children learn how to rock. The need to educate people on what good music sounds like is something most rock freaks (like myself) can identify with. The overall message of the film is that everyone has a rocker in them somewhere trying to get out, and this is a statement I wholeheartedly agree with.
Jack Black is much better here in a starring role than he was in "Shallow Hal". He's got that good-natured goober thing down, but his transformation over the course of the film is neither sappy nor unbelievable. Joan Cusack has a very funny supporting role as his tightly-wound principal with a weakness for Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen". A large cast of mostly-very good child actors portray his class. Whenever I see a movie with child acting this good I want to smack George Lucas, but that's a review for another day.
***1/2 out of ****. Go see it next weekend. Great movie for kids as well as adults (I plan on taking my 12-year old punk rock kid brother).
