Very funny

Rating: 9/10 (21 August 2008)

I would never have thought this concept would turn out so funny. Jack Black plays an guitarist who cannot find a gig and must take a job as a substitute teacher to make ends meet. He soon starts teaching his students all about rock music and he and the class secretly for a rock band to perform in the "Battle of the Bands." Some of the biggest laughs come when Jack Black makes odd references to bands from several decades ago that would, in reality, go over the heads of most kids in the grade he is teaching but would easily be understand by the average adult. Black's hyper personality and hilarious remarks in the conversations with other staff members are also very funny, as he makes additional references to song lyrics and even quotes from Woody Allen. Joan Cusack is superbly cast as the school principal, suspicious yet still completely unaware of what's going on in the classroom. It's implausible that no one would figure out what the class was doing, but that's another thing that makes this film so funny. Parents, there are occasional sex and drug references, so you may want to wait until your kids are old enough to know better, which depends on the age and maturity of your individual children. Otherwise, see this film. It's one of the funniest movies made in the last five years.
***1/2 out of ****