funny attempt at creating a new genre- school rock

Rating: 6/10 (6 October 2009)

School of rock is in the end, a simplistic comedy movie and should be judged in that light. So I tried to ignore the logical bypasses in it, and after that it came out as a nice, clean entertainer. I felt the film seems funnier while watching than if you think about it after it ends. Jack Black brings a certain comic timing to it that makes you tickle, inspite of all his 'overacting' in parts.
The movie deserves credit for the concept, cast selection and situational humor. Also, in this age of cheap pop music, a little passionate infusion of Rock culture is a welcome change. The kids did a fine job considering their ages and the limited scope and screenspace presented to them, as Black dominated the movie quite thoroughly. The bottled-up principal and Black's room mates were fine too. The parents though, could have been better than the headless chickens shown.
As for the drawbacks, I found several though some might be overlooked in the movie's genre. Black comes across as a non conformist with his aversion to dieting, drugs, girls and rest of the habits dogging most rock wannabes. However, some of his takes on Rock music are so cliché' it's difficult to accept his credibility as a free-thinking musician. The over-the-top antics on solos, diving in the crowd, praying to some rock god, driving a junky wagon are just the sort of stupid conformism he fights against. While he dresses in a school uniform for the concert, the rest of the kids are in some alternate, disjointed clothing and sporting crazy hairdos disputing the very theme of the movie- That you don't need to be a freak and lead an unhealthy lifestyle to be a rock artist. Also the slanders to classical music were uncalled for; the very reason that those kids were able to pick up rock instruments so fast was because of their training in classical. Ahem, they could have made someone else sing the songsJack was really ordinary in the concert.
But yes, if taken in a light hearted way, the movie was a genuine entertainer and well worth a watch.