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Review

Black captures the lovable slobbery of John Belushi, the wacky irreverence of Bill Murray and the ill-focused but vehement rebelliousness of every marginally talented rock star wannabe looking for the ultimate backstage pass to life by playing firetrap clubs by night and passing out in friends' living rooms by day (when they're at work, anyway, so what's the problem?), in School of Rock, a wickedly funny tribute to sticking it to the man through rock 'n' roll. The story has all the familiar elements: Dewey Finn (Black) just got kicked out of the band he founded and is about to get kicked out of his friend Ned's pad by Ned's girlfriend (Silverman, who appears to be making a career out of the girlfriend-from-hell schtick). Ned (White, who also scripted) is a substitute teacher. Dewey gets the phone call summoning Ned to a job at a prep school (tuition: $15,000 a year). Dewey takes the job posing as Ned because he needs the money (to pay back Ned for his room and board for the past several months). Dewey transforms the class into a band so he can enter the Battle of the Bands and show his old band mates a thing or two. . . you get the idea. Stop rolling your eyes; while this may not have the depth of The Commitments, it definitely has the energy and exuberance of any rock 'n' roll band flick you can name. It nods briefly to a few teen angst staples (damaged self-image, sensitive kid with overbearing father), but was probably wise not to try to delve too deeply. Chances are excellent that you will watch this with a shit-eating grin on your face and indulge in some air guitar and screaming vocals shortly after. Needless to say, it's all about the music, man!

 -- Ann Yarabinee