School's in Session

by John D. Bess

Daily Lobo

"The School of Rock" is in session, and headmaster Jack Black is busting knuckles with his spaced-out, rubber-faced yardstick of comedic genius.

People who are not familiar with Black really need to stop reading this article, call in sick, wrap their minds around their favorite substance and spend the day watching "Jesus' Son," "High Fidelity" and "Orange County." Black explodes with frenetic energy, even when his character is higher than Ben Franklin's kite, and steals scenes from the likes of Billy Crudup and John Cusack.

Black described the development of his particular brand of acting.

"My acting style is called high-energy, face muscular, pardo-licious," he said. "I don't know; I'm from the clown school of acting."

Studio heads have tried to clean Black up and rein him in for more commercial roles like "Shallow Hal" and "Saving Silverman," but the results have been like watching someone shove a square peg in a round bong. He is just too grimy, too hip, too rock to play milquetoast characters.

In "The School of Rock," Black is back on familiar ground as grubby, failed rock musician, Dewey Finn. Finn poses as a substitute teacher in a private school full of musical prodigies. He promptly dismisses academics to teach the kids how to rock in an attempt to win a battle of the bands and get his music career back on track.

Throughout this film, it seems like Black is not so much acting from a script as he is exorcising his own demons toward a world that just doesn't get the true magic of rock 'n' roll.

Though rock is definitely becoming a staple of his stage persona, Black said that he doesn't only take these kinds of roles.

"They kind of come to me, looking for me to rock and to bring the rock. It's not like I go 'this one's got no rock - pass.'"

Black is so devoted to rock that he even has his own rock band, Tenacious D, and he helped create some of the songs for the movie.

"I had my hand in it quite a bit, but we actually had other people writing the songs," he said. "We had The Mooney Suzuki write the big finale song. They really kicked it in the nuts."

From a killer soundtrack of classic rock to Finn's questionable, yet musical, teaching methods, this movie drives its point home - music is vital to our lives and rock music is no exception.

Wanting authentic musical performances in the film, the director hired real musical prodigies, not child actors. As a result there are some wooden performances and difficult deliveries, but at least these kids really bring on the raw talent with their instruments.

This being a movie about kids and adults learning a lesson or three, there are plenty of the requisite "you've got to find/believe in/be true to yourself" scenes. Though a little cheesy at times, it's all made palatable by Black's over-the-top, rowdy performance and a hilarious script.

It's obvious that Black knows rock is an art form that refuses to take itself too seriously and this is exactly why he was the only one who could pull this movie off.

"I love rock, but I also like to make fun of rock while loving it," he said.

It's hard to believe there could be an honest-to-goodness family movie about rock 'n' roll with Black playing a part custom-made for him. But "School of Rock" is precisely that - honest, clean and genuinely funny.

All past attempts to clean rock 'n' roll up enough to make a family movie about it have been huge stinkeroos; see the Michael J. Fox's treat "Light of Day." Better yet, don't.

Just see "School of Rock." Black and writer Mike White have such a respect for and love of rock that this film manages to accomplish the unimaginable - appealing to everyday families and jaded rock critics alike.