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"GOD OF ROCK, THANK
YOU FOR THIS CHANCE TO KICK ASS!"
Dewey Finn (Jack Black) goes from stage-diving
(well, crashing) guitar legend-in-his-own-mind one minute, to being
booted out of his band - by popular vote - the next. And of course,
the rent is due - in fact, he's been freeloading off of his roommate and
former band mate Ned Schneedbly (Mike
White), for most of his adult life. But it
comes to a stop all too soon when Ned's Girlfriend Patti (Sarah
Silverman) forces
an ultimatum - pay up or get out!
What happens next in director
Richard Linklater's
(Dazed and Confused) latest film could almost play as unsurprising were it not for
Black's deft sense of comic timing, quirky mannerisms,
natural musical talent, and a script and strong supporting cast of
musically gifted students including guitar ace
Joey Gaydos, the
wily Miranda Cosgrove,
the soulful Maryam Hussan
and keyboard wiz Robert Tsai,
among many others, which offer him
plenty of opportunity to stretch far beyond the predictable. In one
of the most versatile, whirlwind character studies in recent memory, Black
moves like a squirming puppy, plays and sings like a kid in a rock 'n roll
candy store, and effortlessly peels the layers from a deeply engaging
yet endearingly flawed personality.
How Finn finds himself as a substitute teacher in front of a classroom
full of gifted elementary school students you will just have to find out
on your own, but rest assured, that once he is there, expect the
unexpected.
When Finn offers the students continual
recess, day after day, in place of actual lessons ("I've got a hangover -
can anyone tell me what that means?") their patience grows thin. But
after Principal Mullins (aptly played by
Joan Cusack)
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All photography й 2003
Paramount Studios, All Rights Reserved
arrives to escort the students to their weekly music class,
Finn sees the talent at hand and the next thing you know the students are
being assembled for a project - an "important competition" (a battle of
the bands with a big cash prize) - that is nothing short of top secret.
"Can we tell our parents?" one student asks, "NooOOO!" is Finn's
understandable reply.
The more effort he puts into assembling the band and refining the
individual talents, the more he engages the children - all the while
dodging the peering eye of Mullins and the suspicions of the parents.
In preparation for the big event, Finn and the children
open their hearts, stretch their rock and roll chops, and perform a
non-stop artillery of feel-good songs and snappy dialogue that humanizes
the children - rather than couching them as precocious caricature props as so
many film efforts involving children tend to do.
Are they able to pull off their
performance, or does everything unravel on the way to the Palace?
You'll have to see for yourself! But nobody left the
theater without a smile - and this is a smart, engaging and enjoyable
feel-good comedy that I could easily watch again and again!
Highly recommended!!!
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