Very Funny Tribute to the Love of Music

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2005)

"School of Rock" is practically a spin-off for Jack Black of his force-of-musical-nature character from "High Fidelity."
Written for him by his friend (and ironically nerdy co-star here) Mike White, it is hysterically funny and has an excellent soundtrack with very apt classic metal selections (ah, it's been a long time since I heard the command "Let's get the Led out!") and original, witty tunes (especially over the closing credits as it makes fun of people who stay to watch the credits- "Hey, get out! They need to clean the theater!").
The character's Peter Pan immersion in '70's culture is recreated down to his sheets -- the same ones I had, but even the rags cut I cut from them fell apart long ago. But it also has an intelligent maturity angle, as Black's character grows into his school teacher role to demonstrate a surprising sense of responsibility for his charges, including respect for legitimate music education, both hands-on and appreciation (the rock history lesson charts are excellent).
Joan Cusack again shows what a wonderful comedienne she is, as she was in the recent Muppet TV movie, so that even as something of the villain of the piece she's still quite human, and the movie doesn't even swerve into a silly romance (though it will probably show up in the "deleted scenes" section of the DVD).
The only weak touch is the "Queer Eye for a Straight Guy" reference that's over done with one of the kids.
For some reason, though, parents brought very young children as if it's "Finding Nemo," including babes in arms and toddlers, who ran around the theater from boredom as they didn't get any of the jokes.
(originally written 10/25/2003)