Thursday 9 May 2013

Review - School of Rock

School of Rock - A want to be rock star who is in need of quick money pretends to be a substitute teacher at a secondary school. and turns his class into a rock band.

  Hey everyone, I hope you had a nice Bank Holiday weekend. my next review is a rock out comedy, starring Jack Black in the leading role. 'School of Rock' is without doubt a feel good, fun filled comedy, with lots of laughs and great quotations which people I know today still can't get enough of.

SPOILER ALERT: As I do with all my reviews, to keep people who haven't seen the films I review into consideration; if you haven't seen this film, then I suggest you go and watch the film and then go back to my blog to see what I have to say, otherwise keep reading as I have a lot to say on this film.

It was brought to the US's attention on the 23rd of September 2003, and was released for the UK on the 6th of February 2004.

School of Rock runs for 108 minutes overall. (1 hour 48 minutes)

The Storyline entails the life of a down and out rock star Dewey Finn (Jack Black) who gets fired from his band, for immature behavior. he then has to face a mountain of debts and depression. He then imitates his friend and takes a job as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school.

There his attitude and hijinx influence have a powerful effect on his students. He also meets Zack (Joey Gaydos Jr.), a 10-year-old guitar prodigy, who could help Dewey win a "battle of the bands" competition, which would solve his financial problems and put him back in the spotlight.

Although he thinks, everything is coming together, his plans crumble in a matter of seconds where he gets found out at a parents consultation night. but because he's made such a great impact on his students they plan to get out and win the show. 'The School of Rock' fail to win 'Battle of Bands' but what they gain from it is a fan base.

This film sees the essenctric talents of Jack Black, he comes in all guns blazing and shoots off a firring ball of energy which seems to flying off in all directions. I thought Jack Black was fantastic, Inspired casting and overall enjoyed watching him do his thing, and how he portrayed his character to the best of his abilities. some of his acting was a bit hammy in places (over the top) he could of toned things down a bit but I'm not complaining as I thought that's the way he works and you can't change it.



 Also coming into to guest star were Mike White as 'Ned Schneebly',Sarah Silverman as 'Patty Di Marco' and Joan Cusack as headmistress of Horris Green school 'Rosalie Mullins'. All did a brilliant job in a very different way, I thoroughly enjoyed the supporting characters as I think they did there own thing, but also assisted Jack Black really well.

My only criticisms that I really should point out is that the balance wasn't quite right with comedy there has to be a good balance of Funny and Storytelling. the Funny factor was off the wall with this which again, I think could of been toned down to allow the story to tell itself in a different way.

Richard Linklater put his stamp on this as Director, Richard Linklater had previously directed films such as 'Bernie' and 'Before Sunrise', his directing skills seemed quite strange and irregular the way he wanted a certain shot filmed. his directing wasn't bad, I'm sure he had his reasons for taking shots, I always look upon some shots that he made as being 'it could of worked better had he done this' sort of thing.


I think if things had been toned down slightly, and I was familiar with Richard Linklater's directing I would of enjoyed this and understood this a bit more in depth.

Overall I like 'School of Rock' but I don't love 'School of Rock'.

I am going to rate this film 7/10

I'm not going to give out any stars to anyone in cast or crew because no one in this film really blew me away, they were just good actors who did a good job and nothing more, so no stars for this film I'm afraid.

My next review is going to be 'The Book of Eli' starring Denzal Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis. and directed by 'The Hughes Brothers' that review will be posted on Saturday the 11th of May 2013.



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