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Plot synopsis
Dewey Finn just
wants to rock -- sadly, real life keeps trying to get in his way. His
best friend's girlfriend is threatening to kick him out of the apartment
they all share because Dewey can't pay rent, and his bandmates have just
given him the boot because, frankly, Dewey's stage antics and 20-minute
wailing guitar solos are starting to make them all look like a joke. The
whole world's against him -- but hey, Dewey figures that's what good
rock-n-roll is all about. Still, Dewey's beginning to realize that, in
his current circumstances, a little bit of cash might not be so bad a
thing. Which is why when the principal of a prestigious prep school
calls for his roomie Ned one day, desperate for a good substitute
teacher, Dewey decides to co-opt Ned's identity, and take the job
himself. Dewey figures he'll play babysitter for a few weeks, collect
the cash, and find himself a new band in his after-school hours,
hopefully in time to compete in the local Battle of the Bands. What he
doesn't count on is that his new job actually requires real work, as
both the principal and his students seem to have this crazy notion that
he should do some teaching when he shows up each day. Dewey's having
none of that -- until he happens to overhear his students in music class
one day, and comes up with a brilliant idea. He tells his kids they'll
be devoting their full time to a new project -- Rock Band -- supposedly
to get a head start in preparing for a state-wide competition that will
take place the following semester. Soon Dewey's rocking out with his
rather talented band of 11-year-olds, teaching them about power chords,
rock history, and the importance of standing up to The Man.
Review
School of Rock sticks to your standard Hollywood formula from
start to finish. The premise is pure fantasy, the plot simplistic, the
ending predictably feel-good. But by allowing the manic and deeply
amusing Jack Black and his terrific young costars to simply get on
screen and do their things, director Richard Linklater gives this very
mainstream movie a subtle edge, irreverent joy, and delightful looseness
that you just don't get in most commercial flicks. You think you know
what's going to happen along every step of the way -- and in the grand
scheme of things, you're pretty much right. But each scene is filled
with little surprises -- whether it's what strange facial contortion
Black's going to come up with in the face of yet another setback to his
plans, or how a specific kid is going to respond to the crazy teacher's
demands. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when Dewey, trying
to teach a lesson about standing up to authority figures, urges his
students to have a try at telling him off. Lawrence, an unfailingly
polite Asian-American classical pianist cum keyboard player, blurts out
to Dewey in his clipped, accented English, "You're a fat slob and
you have body odor!" The delivery is wonderfully awkward, so that
it actually does come off as spontaneous and believable, and that's a
big part of the appeal of School of Rock: even when the events
unfolding are clearly ludicrous, there's an emotion there that feels
pure and real. There are some people out there who insist that classical
music is intrinsically better than rock-n-roll, but me, I'm of the
opinion that the world's a better place because we have both. Sure,
complexity and depth and grandness of scale are good for the intellect
and all, but there's something deeply satisfying about the way a
three-minute dose of straightforward verse-chorus-versus can just hit
you in the gut and pull you into its rhythm, connecting you to something
bigger and more universal than what your small brain can properly
describe in words. Like the rock classics Dewey's always extolling to
his young protégés, School of Rock proves a movie doesn't have
to be complicated to rock hard.
—reviewed
by Yee-Fan Sun
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