Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

areatw 'The School of Rock' is an entertaining, feel-good movie containing the inevitable mix of clichés, over-the-top characters and a very cheesy storyline. Jack Black is in his element in this role, so much so that it feels like the whole film has been built around him. He shines, as you would expect, with his character delivering virtually all the jokes in the film.It's a great feel-good movie, but other than that, 'The School of Rock' doesn't have much else to offer. It's a good choice if you're in the mood for something cheerful and uplifting, but personally I couldn't sit through this film over and over again like some people. Overrated is the word that comes to mind.

zkonedog It is clear from fairly early on in "School of Rock" that its primary purpose is to showcase the manic acting talents of Jack Black over everything else. Oftentimes, that can lead to a rather shallow movie (as the plot and auxiliary characters aren't fleshed out as they should be), but in this case the film still ends up being rather entertaining because of the novelty and the music.For a basic plot summary, "School of Rock" tells the story of Dewey Finn (Black), a middle-aged man who crashes (never paying the rent) at the home of enabling friend Ned (Mike White). You see, Dewey still harbors the rock-and-roll band fantasies of his youth despite the fact that his prospects do not look great. One day, however, Dewey intercepts a substitute teaching call for Ned and assumes his identity, showing up completely unprepared at a fancy prep academy for grade school-ers. The one thing Dewey does know how to do/teach? Rock.Like I said, "School of Rock" is primarily a vehicle to showcase Black's manic style of performing, and it does that very well. Black never loses energy in a single scene, and his "Legend of the Rent" performance in front of his pupils (shot all in one take) is one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on film! I feel like watching too much of Black would be exhausting, but contained in this single movie it is a rush of energy.Two other aspects of the film really keep it entertaining: -The basic concept (teaching children how to rock) has never really been done before, at least that I've on. It is entertaining to see the students go from stuck up preppies to confident rockers over the course of the film.-The music, which is always upbeat and fun to listen to. During the times in the film where the plot drags or becomes a bit too corny, there's always that next musical number right around the corner to look forward to.So, I can consider "School of Rock" very entertaining despite its obvious limitations (being a vehicle film, having a super-cheesy plot, etc.). It won't rocket to the top of any "best of" lists, but it will create a few iconic music-movie moments. As long as you aren't expecting something deep, you'll have fun watching this!

dierregi Jack Black is one of those actors who always play slight variations of themselves. He could be described as a character actor or less nicely, an actor with not much of a range.Not surprisingly, in this movie he is an obnoxious, selfish, immature guy who sings in a low-level band and exploits an old friend for free lodgings. When the girlfriend of said friend asks him to pay the rent, he resentfully set out to find a job. Said girlfriend portrayed as an unpleasant bitch, only because she makes a reasonable request...Through a series of implausible events Jack (apologies, I mean Dewey) ends up teaching rock to a bunch of kids in a posh school. Not because he likes teaching but because he needs them to be his "support band" for the battle of the bands, since no legitimate rock band would have him.It is quite creepy to hear a grown-up man telling pre-pubescent girls they could be groupies, not to mention the manipulation of kids for his own purpose. At the end Jack (I mean Dewey) acknowledges that the band is more important than any single member, but throughout the movie we see him in every single scene playing the only "cool" character among a bunch of boring, nasty, square people of all ages.Besides Black being totally predictable, the screenplay is even more so. Finally, for a comedy there are very few real funny moments. The only saving grace is the music, with a totally unexpected bit from Led Zeppelin exploding in a scene.For die-hard Black's fans and people who think being a freeloader is a cool way to live. P.S. also probably the worst Linklater film.

alexwilli-47834 I don't care what other reviewers say, this is a horrible movie. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief slightly in the name of 'entertainment' but it's impossible to do that with this film. To consider a few examples: 1) Dewey doesn't provide any identification to the school upon his arrival nor is he asked for any - really?? 2) The police don't take any action against Dewey despite his deliberate and repeated acts of fraud, identity theft, child abduction and child engagement and he's even able to work unsupervised with children again?- really??? 3)He has no teaching assistants in his class and he doesn't have any member of the senior member team observe him(apart from a small bit which is clearly for the purposes of plot development) 4) are we really supposed to believe that the parents seriously care about their children's education if they wait until the parents evening to voice their concerns? Wouldn't the lack of academic homework or the fact that they would have been giving vague answers about what they had done at school that day have rung alarm bells earlier - particularly as it was a private and not a public school?(and I find it impossible to believe that none of the children would have told their parents about the band) This point is made even worse by the fact that the parents of Lawrence knew he's been asked to listen to the album, which probably causes a safeguarding concern by itself as its probably not age appropriate music for a child of his age to listen to.5) A battle of the bands completion can sell out a medium sized venue at 2/3 in the afternoon on a weekday? Doesn't anybody in this film have a job? 6) the promoter gave them the spot on the bill without even listening to them - for he knew they could been absolutely rubbish 7) The police weren't called when all the children went missing and the concert went ahead anyway - a quick phone call to social services could have got the place shut down in a second.8) the field trip was still booked - this is the most ridiculous plot hole of all because (a) The bus would have been booked via the school and I find it hard to believe it wouldn't have been cancelled immediately once Dewey's deception was found out and (b) The Bus driver hasn't been told about the deception or even found out about it(I would imagine it would have made at least the local news or got around the town pretty quickly).9) How on earth does Summer know where Dewey lives??? - either he gave her his home address(why) or she got it from the school(how) - both of which are data protection and safeguarding issues.Yes, OK... it's 'just a film' but just take a moment to think about what the subtext of this 'film' is actually saying about these various issues