School of Rock
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- For the documentary about an actual school of rock music, see Rock School (film). For the Gene Simmons TV show, see Rock School.
This critically-acclaimed movie is credited with sparking an amazing interest in classic rock among members of Generation Y, a generation notable for its interest in music that predates itself, such as bands like AC/DC, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and many others.
This film features musical talent comparable to child prodigy from actors as young as 10 who play guitar, bass, drums and keyboard (not to mention some surprisingly well-trained voices) remarkably well.
A reality show called Rock School was allegedly based on the film, though the producers claim it was in the works since 2002.
This film is number 98 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.
Taglines:
- * Take notes.
- * Mr. Black. Accept no substitute.
- * Come on feel the noize.
- * He just landed the gig of his life
- 5th grade.
- * We don't need no education.
- * Heavy Mental.
- * We shall teach Rock & Roll to the world!
Plot
Black plays Dewey Finn, a talented yet excitable 30-year-old heavy metal/hard rock singer and guitarist with a reputation for being difficult to work with. His flamboyant on-stage antics, however, get him kicked out of his band, "No Vacancy." His roommate Ned, a substitute teacher (played by White), threatens eviction (under heavy pressure from his overbearing girlfriend) unless Dewey gets a real job and pays his rent debt of $2200. A phone call from the principal of a prestigious prep school (played by Joan Cusack) asking for his roommate's services leads Dewey to impersonate his roommate and get a job as a substitute for the fifth-grade class.
Dewey takes the job to make a little money with as little effort as possible. When he discovers that some of the kids in the class have musical talent, he decides to turn his temporary job into what he tells them is a special school project but is actually a personal one: turn a classroom full of kids into a band and crew, complete with a ten-year-old manager played by Miranda Cosgrove from Drake and Josh which will serve as a vehicle to stardom.
Dewey is the band's lead singer and rock teacher, exposing his students to such rock legends as AC/DC, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin (Dewey: "Don't tell me you've never gotten the Led out."), Pink Floyd, Rush, and Yes. Four rock stars are featured with classic footage in the movie: Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Angus Young and Keith Moon. The movie culminates in the class's final project: performance in a local battle of the bands. The class loses to Dewey's old band, which plays very generic, low-tempo rock. However, the class doesn't care about the loss because Dewey's "school of rock" gives them more self-esteem and an understanding that rock transcends traditional notions of success and failure (Freddy the drummer: "Rock isn't about getting an 'A'. Sex Pistols never won anything."). The band get an encore from the crowd and play 'It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N Roll)' by AC/DC. This scene fades to the credits, which play over the next scene. This last scene features Jack and Ned's 'School of Rock', in the form of them teaching kids to play in their apartment. The footage featuring Jack and the kids playing It's a Long Way to the Top in the apartment was almost entirely improvised.
Supporting actors in the film include Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman, Adam Pascal, and (an uncredited) Frank Whaley.
Trivia
- All the music played by the kids in the film is actually performed by the child actors.
- One of the tag lines is a direct quote from the Pink Floyd song, Another Brick in the Wall.
- All the kids with talent said that their parents taught them music.
- Jack Black admitted that he is still learning how to play the electric guitar and claims that the kids in the film are much better than he is. However, he said he loves doing solo parts and plays acoustic guitar more than he does electric.
- The film is one of the few to feature a Led Zeppelin song as the band is known for not licensing their music. Knowing this, Richard Linklater filmed a plea by actor Jack Black in front of 1,000 screaming fans, imploring the band to let the production use the "Immigrant Song" in the movie. The plea worked and the filmed request is included on the DVD.
- On May 5, 2006, the film got its network premiere on FOX. The event was hosted by Jack Black, who was also promoting his movie Nacho Libre (another Paramount release), opening June 16, 2006.
- Black's character in the film claims that rock 'n roll was killed by "a little thing called MTV." Coincidentally, School of Rock was released by Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Viacom, parent company of MTV.
- All the segments that Dewey taught the students to play were from real songs (e.g. Laurence played a segment from "Touch Me" by The Doors, and Zack played segments from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell".
- Katie is the only band member who does not get a solo during the end credits. Though one was filmed, it wasn't shown in the movie (all the singers, Zack, Laurence, and Freddy got solos.)
- Jack Black is one half of the band Tenacious D.
- The album's original soundtrack was recorded at Echo Canyon, a studio belonging to the highly-influential rock band Sonic Youth. Then member Jim O'Rourke had a large part in the process acting as music consultant for the film.
- Much of the movie was filmed on location at Wagner College in Staten Island.
- School of Rock is one of two films that feature a song by Led Zeppelin, the other is Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Awards and nominations
The film has been nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor - Comedy or Musical, and won Black an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.Controversy concerning origins
A School of Rock was founded in Philadelphia in 1998 by musician Paul Green and was the subject of a recent award-winning documentary, Rock School. Green's program, personality, and life story may have influenced many of the aspects of the film. However, no credit was given to the program for inspiration. The school now has locations in Philadelphia, New York City, Downingtown, Cherry Hill, Somers Point, South Hackensack, Bucks County, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Wilmington and San Francisco.Cast
- Jack Black (Dewey Finn)
- Mike White (Ned Schneebly)
- Sarah Silverman (Patty de Marco)
- Adam Pascal (Theo)
- Joan Cusack (Rosalie Mullins): Horace Green Principal
- Joey Gaydos Jr. (Zach Mooneyham): Lead Guitarist
- Rebecca Julia Brown (Katie): Bass Guitarist
- Kevin Alexander Clark (Freddy Jones): Drummer
- Robert Tsai (Lawrence): Keyboardist
- Maryam Hassan (Tomika): Back-up Vocalist
- Caitlin Hale (Marta): Back-up Vocalist
- Aleisha Allen (Alicia): Back-up Vocalist
- Miranda Cosgrove (Summer Hathaway): Band Manager
- Veronica Afflerbach (Eleni): Band Groupie
- Jordan-Claire Green (Michelle): Band Groupie
- Angelo Massagli (Frankie): Band Security
- Cole Hawkins (Leonard): Band Security
- Brian Falduto (Billy): Band Stylist
- James Hosey (Marco): Band Roadie
- Zachary Ryan Infante (Gordon): Band Roadie
External links
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