Ace and King Equal Black Jack........Or Is It Jack Black?

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2003)

Very suspicious guilty pleasure that seems to stumble around and succeed for the most part in spite of itself. Disillusioned small-time rocker Jack Black (a tornado of enthusiasm) is about to be tossed out of his apartment by roommate Mike White (who wrote the screenplay) and White's new girlfriend (the constantly annoying Sarah Silverman) for not paying his share of the rent. White, a substitute teacher, is called one day by prep school principal Joan Cusack to take over a class for an extended period of time. Of course Black, not White (How ironic is that?), is the one who answers the phone and he ends up posing as his best friend for some much needed cash. So now Black is way over his head in a class of children that all seem a bit more intelligent than he is. Black, who really knows nothing but rock music, convinces his class to create a band and enter a contest. Naturally his motives are to make money from the contest, become a star and show up his old band. But what happens when things get complicated for all involved? "The School of Rock" is candy-coated dribble, but it has a beat and rhythm to it that I liked anyway. Black is the catalyst. He takes a simple, and honestly kind of mediocre, story and runs with the material as fast as he can. So much is done so fast that you find yourself doing your best to keep up with the enjoyable characters. Far from anything really extraordinary, but still a unique over-achiever nonetheless. 4 stars out of 5.