I watched "School of Rock"... did I see the same movie you guys did???

I found it boring, bland, unbelievable, and... well, just a mess.

I wanted to like it. Everyone liked it. RottenTomatoes graded it highly. The IMDB is full of praise for it.

But my wife and I hated it. We thought it was a kids' movie. We found the entire plot unbelievable and Jack Black to be incredibly bothersome.

Richard Linklater directed it. If only for that reason I was 100% sure I'd love it.

Are we wrong? Or is the movie really a kids' one (I can understand why everyone graded it so nicely if this is the case)? Or is this one of those movies that can't be understood outside the United States?

I really didn't get it...

 

I thought it was fantastic and very skillfully done - Jack Black wanted to bring classic rock to the young generation, and succeeded marvelously. So in some sense, yeah, it was for kids. I thought the child actors (who I usually despise in movies) were really well-cast, too. Reminded me of elementary school (and, in particular, of the school I went to).

 

So then, I'm guessing that your fondness for this movie depends on your tolerance for Jack Black and/or children?

 

I think this about sums it up, for me - Harry Knowles is usually way too hyperbolic for my tastes, but he hit the nail on the head here:
"If nothing else… the movie could inspire a fantastic conversation between that kid in your life and you about what makes great Rock-n-Roll… and for us adults.. it does the same. What Rock would you teach?"
from http://www.aintitcool.com

 

One thing about that kid cast...they were selected for the musical prowess first and then acting ability...pretty incredible.

I liked the movie but I agree it's not a classic....if it wasn't for the rockin' I probably also wouldn't really like it.

 

Right. Had a talk with a guy that was telling me how dumb That Thing You Do is..................I love it.....I told him it didn't profess to be Citizen Kane. It's just a fun movie.

 

fjhuerta-

I had the same response as you - I was very underwhelmed. In hindsight, I can look back on the movie and understand its appeal, but I was expecting SO much more while i was watching it. After the first 45 minutes, though, it became clear that it was not going to shift gears into something else...I thought for sure that no one would make such a predictable plot line, but it kept going and going until that climactic "Battle of the Bands". That was bad. Maybe in time I will view it as having the same zany charm as the Blues Brothers or something.

By the way, I like Jack Black but now realize he needs to be in a supporting role (ala High Fidelity), or improv.

 

I was able to enjoy it with my two sons (ages 12 & 14), so it gets a lot of points just for that. I put it in a category with movies like Caddyshack, Animal House, and Meatballs. The average guy making life miserable for the snobs. Not a great movie, but a fun one, and the boys and I will most likely watch it again when it hits DVD.

 

Definitely... my feelings exactly. I thought there had to be some character building for Jack Black... something. But I found out after a while he was never going to change, or anything. There wasn't any sort of "growth" in his personna...

I was expecting something a bit more like the Dead Poets Society, but it was really a straightforward comedy.

Maybe I should take my cousin to watch the movie (he's 11) and ask him his opinion...

 

The closing credits were the best part of the film. I took my 8 year old son and it was fun seeing it with him. Far from my favorite Linklater, and in fact hard to believe this was from the guy who did Slackers, Dazed and Confused, etc. Look, we all saw This is Spinal Tap, we know This is Spinal Tap, we all have This is Spinal Tap on DVD and have memorized the dialogue of This is Spinal Tap and we can say with confidence that School of Rock is no This is Spinal Tap. But it is OK.

 

NOW I find the film annoying and unmemorable.
THEN I thought it was cute and an easy way to spend a couple hours.

 

How do you figure? Dewey was a totally different character by the end of the movie - much less selfish and self-absorbed. He grew tremendously and wasn't nearly the same jackass we met earlier.

I thought this was a very amusing movie. Did it do anything revolutionary? God, no. It did feature a fairly predictable plot and thinly detailed characters.

But who cares? It was fun. That was enough for me.

Link to my review: http://www.dvdmg.com/schoolofrock.shtml

 

Just watched the movie yesterday. I do agree with this last opinion.

I thought it was a .. I wouldn't call it 'VERY amusing'. I thought it was an entertaining movie. A bit too cliché for my tastes, but don't mind me.

Did it do anything revolutionary? No, but I didn't expect it to, either.

It did feature a fairly predictable plot, yes. Character development I wouldn't know if it slapped me so I won't comment on that.

Jack Black was fun.. at times. Other times he's just too over-the-top for my tastes.

The Kids Were Alright but I don't care much for child actors (not personally, .. you know what I mean). I liked the fact that they were playing the instruments themselves.. a refreshing tidbit.

Some time ago I realized I really liked a couple movies and Richard Linklater happened to have directed them (the one with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (sp?) and Dazed & Confused).

I like the way he handles the passing of time in these two movies. He seems to have avoided spreading the time frame too thin, so everthing happens within one night or a few days, with no big jumps. Both those movies 'flow' in a very natural, effortless way. It brings a more realistic edge to the story, IMO.

I can't say I noticed anything that screamed 'RICHARD LINKLATER' on this one, though. Except maybe for the casting of the kids.

I also did think the girl who played bass was cute.. NOT in a Michael Jackson way, just, .. you know.

Hope you guys won't change my tag line to 'Forum Perv'.

 

I really liked the movie. I laugh a lot and they played excellent music. It´s always nice to me to listen to the that I like (Led Zep, AC/Dc...) played in a theater. When the movie finished, I went to my car, put an old cassette, turn the volume high and listen to "When the music´s over".

 

I really wish Jack Black had made it to rock stardom.....so we wouldn't have to put up with idiotic movies like this one.

 

Yeah, Dewey was different at the end of the film. But it was a quick transformation, and it really didn't happen throughout the movie. There are lots of examples where the main character slowly realizes he's wrong... to me, Dewey only did so when the police came looking for him (and, how come he could outrun two policemen in the hallway?).

That's what bothered me... I would have liked to see something a bit more gradual. As it is, I could never get to like Dewey because he was never likeable to begin with. The only thing I enjoyed about him was when he recommended Claire Torry's solo on "The Great Gig in the Sky" to Tomaka.

 

"Before Sunrise". A PERFECT "10" in my book. One of the best movies I have ever watched, and quite likely, on my top 5. Amazing. Incredible. Stunning. WOW.

 

No, don't worry about that. But "Forum Pedophile"... maybe!

 

But I thought he was much more likable at the end - that was what mattered. And he was such a cartoon from minute one that it was tough to HATE him.

I don't see his change as being abrupt - the movie depicted his slow growth. His SELF-AWARENESS was sudden, but not his change - Dewey gradually went from self-absorbed to caring about the kids. If he'd only just acted like the kids mattered in the police scene, that'd be one thing, but we clearly saw how he grew to advocate for them more than for himself BEFORE that sequence...

 

I just saw this movie for the first time the other day on a plane from San Jose to Chicago. It doesn't take much of a movie to grab you on an aircraft, as you are desperate for the entertainment. That said, I found this film to be totally enjoyable, over-the-top of course, but exactly what I needed when trapped in my seat for a couple of hours. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times. After the movie was over, I wished I had have brought some Led Zep, Deep Purple or AckaDacka CDs with me along with my traveling hifi. I needed a blast.

I liked the ending, in that the director did not go totally unrealistic and allow the kids to win the "Battle of the Bands", although the number that won was just totally predictable and demonstrated the worst aspects of formula rock. I much preferred the number the kids did!

Most of the characters did seem to develop during the film - except for the Dewey's female flat-mate, who dobbed him into the cops at the end. She stayed pretty true to form.

 

I can't believe that the folks who inhabit this forum didn't find lots to like about this movie. Two points in particular ... when JB taught the guitarist the Smoke on the Water lick* and when he was handing out the CDs to the kids for homework. OK, another point. The keyboardist lifting his routine from Rick Wakeman in the Battle of the Bands didn't make you laugh?! There were a lot of jokes in the film for folks who appreciate music like we do

This is not an Oscar-worthy movie, but it is a lot of fun, and there's not enough of that in the movies today. And I am a BIG Sarah Silverman fan!

*If you watch the documentary on the DVD, there is a brief clip with the kid showing JB how to play the riff...the kid has it down and JB sounds like the newbie. It's hilarious!

 

I liked it, my wife liked it, and my nephews liked it. It was MUCH better than Spy Kids 3D, but then again, isn't everything? (except The Piano)

 

Formulaic movies such as this usually aren't my cup of tea, but somehow School of Rock had all the right pieces in all the right places. I absolutely loved it. I've since added it to my tiny DVD collection.