Jack Black Has Strong Shoulders.

Rating: 6/10 (2 November 2003)

I like Jack Black, and when I saw the trailer for School of Rock, I
thought it would be pretty successful as a release. How could you
lose? Jack Black coaches a bunch of kids on how to rock. What a
formula. Weighed against the other "losers get out and rock"
movies I've seen, like The Commitments, Rock Star, Cotton
Candy, Still Crazy, and Bandwagon, I'd say this one is at the low
end of the scale.

I expected so much more, and it seemed the writing was pretty
loose. For a comedy, I felt the story could have been funnier. I was
hanging on the edge of my seat waiting for the next laugh that
either didn't come, or I found myself forcing one out just because I
was ready to.

It seems that all too often, studios throw some bankable actors
together, and leave them to struggle with weak underdeveloped
scripts based on some juicy high concept storyline that could have
been better.

Of course the ending was right in front of your face since the
beginning, I can excuse that. But when you have people in a room
talking, they better have some funny stuff to talk about. I saw a lot of
wasted opportunities for good comedy, and saw many scenes
limp by on weak gags, and on the hope that the great Jack Black
would be outrageous enough to carry the movie.