This is my movie review for School of Rock, starring Jack Black.

First, let me say I’m not a huge Jack Black fan. I think he’s funny, great character, and his band Tenacious D has some funny and memorable songs (f*ck her gently is great if you can get over how crude it is), but the music is overall, not that great. My thing about his acting is that he’s too over the top when over the top doesn’t fit. However, I respect his band because they make their live shows available for free on etree.org. (Check out this list of all the bands on etree, your favorites might be there.)

Anyway, back to the movie. The concept has been done many times, most of them with Whoopi. You put a non-conforming person in a situation where conformity is expected, add music. Long story short, Whoopi’s first try was better than Jack’s. The first 10 min of the movie, and the last 15, were actually pretty funny and I enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, the movie ran for 108 minutes. My wife and I were checking our watches a couple of times during the film. It felt REALLY LONG for a movie with a bunch of kids in it. Joan Cusack was her usual slightly odd self, whom I like usually. Jack’s buddy Ned was really kinda sad. I don’t even want to give him a hyperlink here, folks. Let’s just say he played his role perfectly. Those who have seen the movie will understand what I mean by that. Some of the children actors did a pretty good job, and I commend them.

Overall the movie was lackluster and as good as the climax was, it wasn’t enough to pull the whole movie off of the ground. Might be a good movie to rent for some teenaged kids. (Note there is a tiny bit of cursing, but not a lot.)

I give it a 4 out of 10.