School of Rock

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I'm not entirely sure how this one has managed to float around out there for so long without me seeing it. A comedy from Richard Linklater ought to be something that's right up my alley. But perhaps at it's time I saw it as "just another high school teacher movie". As far as my peers are concerned, this one seems to be kinda split down the middle in opinion. But I think it probably gets more positivity surrounding it than I would have thought possible, so I decided to finally check it out.

Dewey Finn (Jack Black) gets kicked out of his band after making an ass of himself too many times, and proving to be an embarrassment. Unable to pull in the rent, he pulls a desperate move by posing as his roommate in the role of a substitute teacher. Admittedly, this seems to happen just a little too easily. I mean, I'm no expert, but I have to imagine that if I wanted to pose as a substitute teacher, I'd have to do more than just say I'm the guy you called for the position. But I digress. The fact of the matter is that this movie, despite what seems to be a gaping and silly flaw (seriously, maybe I missed something?), is still a fun time. IF you can take Jack Black and his Jack Blackiest.

Finn ends up teaching his class all about music, and develops a "secret project" under the staff's nose to compete in a Battle of the Bands, once noticing how musically talented they all are. Really, one could see this as a reverse on the typical teacher movie I mentioned before. Usually, the teacher is on the straight and narrow and is challenged by the class. This movie puts the shoe on the other foot, and has Finn come in and show these kids that being way too uptight and prestigious kinda sucks.

The good ol' Rotten Tomatoes have this movie at a whopping 91%, which is something I kinda disagree with. I mean, it's good, but it's not some spectacular movie everyone must see. Although the whole underlying message behind the movie is something to be admired - at least whatever I took away from it.

I'm glad I finally managed to get around to checking it out, but at the end of the day, I don't see myself rushing back to see it again and again. Got some decent laughs, and it's certainly nothing bad at all, but I didn't see it as this big, ground-breaking film that some people manage to see with it. It's a fun watch if you have two hours for a rockin' time.

4/5

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