Once again, Hollywood doesn't understand Rock and Roll

Rating: Null/10 (17 April 2004)

This is another woulda, shoulda, coulda film. Instead, it relies on exaggerated generalities for it's laughs...Why? Aren't we all a little tired of "punk" meaning dressing like Cyndi Lauper's cast-offs?
I appreciate the fact that the kids in the film actually play their instruments...that's a huge improvement over the typical Hollywood rock film, but do we really need another film where the music is incredibly vanilla, but is passed off as radical?
The film's plot is a bit of a mess with sub-plots that go nowhere and actors who are given one note and one note only to play (like the musical analogy there?) Joan Cusack spends the entire film reacting horrified or being uptight...Wow! Couldn't see THAT character a mile away, huh? Dewey's roommate is whipped and his girlfriend is bossy. In EVERY scene? Why are all of these people so 2 dimensional? Does Hollywood have so little trust in the viewer to present fully developed characters who have levels and contradictions?
SCHOOL OF ROCK is a disapointment...Mostly because it could have been really funny and it just laid there like my ex-wif....Well, you know what I mean.