Amazon.com: Customer reviews: School of Rock

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2017

This is a great little movie. What makes it so, is that there is comedy here involving a bit of subterfuge and obsession with being a musician on the part of Jack Black's character, Dewey. But the comedy doesn't rely on forced gags, bathroom humor or uncomfortable moments (which I generally don't find humorous), it relies on Black's likeable but preposterous character who remains unabashedly focused on doing his thing and accomplishing his goal in the face of whatever arises in his path, by using whatever charm, wit, fraud or heart he can muster to make his dream happen. Other top humorous moments come from kids being kids of all different kinds and Dewey dealing with them, and in some ways Dewey is more of a kid than any of them, but he has a good heart and passion, and he ends up really caring about the kids. I have no reservations about my 10 year old watching this, and he and my 13 year old boy loved it.

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The children are the future and Rock n Roll can change their lives

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2020

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School of Rock was a family comedy featuring Jack Black as Dewey a washed up Rock guitarist who out of desperation poses as his roommate and becomes a substitute teacher at a prestigious private school. There he decides to manipulate his students into forming a rock band to compete at the annual battle of the bands, but then he comes to appreciate each student for their talents and who they are. This film easily appeals to both adults and children with the music and jokes.

When Dewey sees his students in music class, he decides that he’ll make them into a rock band. Unknowingly he discovers each one of his students is talented. He finds a guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, but he even gives parts to the non-musicians such as band manager, stylist, roadies, etc. At first, this is all for his own selfish needs to play in the battle of the bands, but as time goes by he comes to see how special each one of his students is. Not only that he but teaches them about Rock history, sticking it to the Man, and other topics popular in Rock culture trying to forge a group of individuals who won’t do what society tells them to. Not only that he gets the kids to believe that music can change the world. Some of them become more confident as a result. Together they make some great music. A lot of great fun is had in the process.
C

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School of Rock Was A Bargain Buy For Me Because

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2020

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The film School of Rock touches on the character of Dewey Finn (Jack Black) indirectly being tempted to resort to extremely drastic measures to make a loving money/job career wise shortly after finding out that he is being forced to look for another opportunity outside of his original rock band and after both his roommate Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and the roommate’s girlfriend Patty DiMarco (Sarah Silverman) give Dewey Finn notice of the brief timeframe that he has remaining to come up with essential rent money. Dewey Finn sees his chance when Principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack) calls for his roommate Schneebly because she is looking for someone to fill a temporary substitute teacher position. It is obvious why Finn finds a way to get into doing this substitute teacher position, however School of Rock touches on heartwarming plot events that show how Finn ends up being both touched spiritually and taught in multiple ways by the students that he is originally meant to teach (played by multiple actors/actresses). The film does feature references to multiple classic rock musicians and even feature brief music snippets from Cream and Led Zeppelin. However, School of Rock is still enjoyable to watch even if you are a complete novice to classic rock music because of the uplifting plot elements of the film and the theme of redemption. I admit that I became curious about this film after seeing it referenced on the website University of the People The Education Revolution.

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Gregory Thomas Bogosian

Its Jack Black starting a rock band with kids from a prep school.

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021

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Your set up is that Jack Black plays Dewey Finn, a washed up rock musician who impersonates his friend, a substitute teacher, to make money for rent by teaching a prestigious private school. He realizes that his students are musically gifted and decides to enter into a Battle of the Bands contest.

Cons: Dewey got off too easy committing fraud and stealing his best friends identity and sabotaging the children's education.

Pro: The acting is excellent. Jack Black is the loud, grandiose, lovable oaf that I expect him to play. The child actors feel like the people they are supposed to feel like. The music is great if you are a hard rock person. There is actually a good moral about how its important to recognize talent and value in others because not everything is about you.

Final verdict: 4 out of 5. Its not the best picture. Not even the best one directed by Richard Linklater. But I in no way regret seeing it. I don't think that you will either.

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WadeTop Contributor: Photography

Not nearly as funny as I remember

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2020

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I like Jack Black, he's great - albeit in judicious doses - and I recall quite liking this film back when it came out, but I found myself not particularly impressed with it now. It's got some memorable funny bits, and the story is fairly warm and endearing, and even some of the characters / performances are well above average. Yet, it also has a few oddly unforced errors in the story-writing, and I found Jack Black's "Jack Blackness" to be a bit too much for me by the end (in a "too much of a good thing" sense).

Funnily enough, as I was watching it, I found myself wanting to instead [re]watch The Rocker. I guess because of the superficial similarity. So I guess that while I somewhat recommend this film - at least if you're comfortable with Jack Black on his most extreme setting - I might recommend The Rocker first.

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DMR008

Extra Credit

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2013

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For this review, I'm assuming you have seen the movie (otherwise, why buy the dvd) and are considering owning a copy.

This is a fine DVD. It is not HD or Blue Ray, but it plays and looks great on my blue ray player.
There is really nothing wrong with the copy, and for that alone this would get 5 stars. But I rate dvds on their bonus material, especially the commentary, since this is where the added value is for me. And in this aspect, I think the value could be higher. The commentary was very half-assed. I don't mind the commentators goofing off or even digressing wildly - often this provides valuable insights into these personalities. But I expect a certain amount of discussion of the film, its production, the development of the story, the actors' interpretation of and improvisation with their roles, etc. The commentary section was very mediocre. Not bad, just not great. Hence 4 stars. If I was rating just the commentary, It'd be 2 stars.

The redeeming qualities come with the many other special features: the kids have a commentary track, and the kids have a video diary of the showing of School of Rock at the Toronto film festival; there is a fun music video of a song one of the kids (in the story line), and other such features. I found the kid stuff really fun. So many of them were so delightful in the film, it was great to get a sense of their real personalities.

Hope this helps.

14 people found this helpful

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cookieman108

"Dude, I service society by rocking!"

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2004

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I found this film to be extremely funny and worth repeated viewings. Directed by Richard Linklater, who also did Slackers (1991), Dazed and Confused (1993), and SubUrbia (1996), The School of Rock (2003) stars the hyper-kinetic and unpredictable Jack Black in a role specifically written for him by co-star Mike White.
Black plays Dewey Finn, a dedicated rocker who believes he and his band are on the verge of greatness, their main goal to win a locale battle of the Bands contest, get the prize money, recognition and, hopefully, a record contract. Problem is Dewey tends to 'rock hard' on stage, which his band members feel is clownish and not fitting in with the image they want to project. Thusly, Dewey soon finds himself voted out of the band and out of a means of income. To top things off his meek roommate, Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and Ned's overbearing girlfriend, played by Sarah Silverman, decide Dewey must move out due to his inability to pay rent. When it rains, it pours...
Anyway, while pondering thoughts of his situation, Dewey takes a phone call for Ned, who is a substitute teacher. An exclusive preparatory school needs someone to fill in, and on discovering the decent amount of money involved, Dewey pretends he is Ned, and takes the job. What was going to be some quick money soon turns out to be more as Dewey learns that the children are musically inclined, and gets the idea to try and build a band around the youngsters, and compete in the upcoming Battle of the Bands contest. He passes the idea off on the children as a secret school project, and thus their education into 'hard rockin' begins.
Jack Black is the star of this movie, no doubt, with his spastic energy and erratic nature, but he certainly has a lot of help with his great supporting cast including Joan Cusack as the principal of the school (I am truly glad to see her back on the big screen as of late all I've been seeing her in is annoying wireless phone commercials) and all the talented children that comprise his class. I was happy to see the filmmakers decided on going with a cast of relatively unknown children, rather than `cutesy', overused children we've seen in many other films. And these children can truly perform, not only with acting, but also with their ability with their respective instruments. The story is pretty classic one, a grown up somewhat forced into involvement with a group of children who soon finds he having an effect on his students, and, in turn, they are having an effect on him. Personal growth develops all around, and we all get the warm fuzzies. While some of other films of this nature tend to get a bit schmaltzy, The School of Rock seems to narrowly sidestep it, and avoids the tooth decaying sweetness so often involved in a stories like this one.
And let's not forget the music...Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Ramones, AC/DC, The Who and many more. I was glad to hear so many great, classic songs accompany the movie, enhancing the complete hard rocking experience that is The School of Rock.
Special features are numerous, encompassing around four hours of material, but the best part for me was the inclusion of Jack Black's video pitch to legendary rock gods Led Zeppelin to use their Immigrant Song within the film. Also included are separate commentaries by Black and the children, a video diary, trailers, interactive features, weblinks, a music video for the original song created for the finale, and more.
While the plot of the movie is pretty far-fetched and requires the viewer to suspend a great deal of belief, it worked for me and was a truly satisfying way to spend an hour and fifty minutes. If you liked Black and his musical abilities, you might want to check out his band, Tenacious D. The CD and DVD are both available here. I definitely look forward to seeing him in future projects.
Cookieman108

5 people found this helpful

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smart flower

Classic and funny

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2021

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Although created to showcase Jack Black, this is an uplifting comedy that shows him encouraging each kid to shine via their own talents, in their own way. Joan Cusack is a classic for this type of comedy and does a great job. Kids who have been exposed to classic rock from their parents will enjoy seeing the kids learning those songs, and it's overall a sweet, funny film.

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Katie Wilson-Barge

Nostalgic and Fun

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2022

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I love this stupid movie. It's Jack Black's finest role (in my humble opinion) and such a fun and lighthearted watch. I used to watch this all the time with my dad when I was little and I watched it with my husband for the first time in years recently - he agreed, it's a fun watch and very quotable.

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Lizzie

Great for the whole family

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020

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This is one of those rare movies, like Shrek, that is entertaining for the entire family. There is good adult content, but nothing inappropriate if kids are watching. Great, inspiring storyline. The music is excellent. I enjoyed this movie way before I had kids, but now that I have them, we watch it together. Jack Black is awesome. I wish there were more high-quality movies like this in the world.

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5 star		84%
4 star		10%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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