A goof parade, but with heart

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2016)

I guess the concept behind School of Rock's story is old as the hills. A good-hearted but too much of a screw-around loser gets kicked out of his natural habitat and has to pretend to be someone else to get around people who have no prejudice against him. Then he screws around some more, doing antics that make you cringe, until his good-heartedness finally wins you over piece by piece, and then the happy ending ensues. Have fun, feel good, bye-bye!
Well, Jack Black has a real talent for turning the "feel good" into "feel embarrassed". A good half of this film, when he's moping around and making idiotic jokes and faces, you really have to battle your instinct to shut your eyes and ears to avoid that horrible shame. Because when it comes to that, one can think of no man more obnoxious and annoying than Mr Black.
But, luckily for us, School of Rock is not about our chubby narcissistic doofus. It's about the kids who he teaches while on the mission of impersonating his spineless roommate to earn some easy cash. The kids really steal the show, providing the film with enough character versatility and the real-world child issues. And despite being an abysmal teacher of proper things, Jack Black's infantile character manages to reach out to the kids, gain their trust and wake up the talents which the "proper" education tries so hard to mould into something useful, convenient but utterly generic. And from then on, the students take over and lead this unlikely alliance to something that ultimately makes this flick enjoyable and even fun.
The "everyone is special, you just need to find your true self" trope gets kinda worn out with time, especially since the real world is not as shiny as it is in the movies, and not everyone is just a vessel of pure talent waiting to be unearthed. But this time, School of Rock managed to nail this theme without getting cloying or force-feeding us that political correctness. And although i would hardly want my kids (if i had any) to be tutored by a lazy bum like Dewey Finn, i'd definitely show them this liberating piece of teen spirit. Because self-confidence is what kids need the most to grow into someone mentally healthy and capable to love and respect himself. And what could be a better source of self-confidence than a sloppy fat guy basking in the self-propagated glory of a rock star, especially if that's what he is really good at.