School of Rock (2003)

After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn them into a rock band.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writer:

Mike White

Stars:

Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Black	...	Dewey Finn
Adam Pascal	...	Theo
Lucas Papaelias	...	Neil
Chris Stack	...	Doug
Sarah Silverman	...	Patty Di Marco
Mike White	...	Ned Schneebly
Lucas Babin	...	Spider
Joan Cusack	...	Rosalie Mullins
Jordan-Claire Green	...	Michelle
Veronica Afflerbach	...	Eleni
Miranda Cosgrove	...	Summer Hathaway
Joey Gaydos Jr.	...	Zack
Robert Tsai	...	Lawrence
Angelo Massagli	...	Frankie
Kevin Alexander Clark	...	Freddy Jones (as Kevin Clark)

Storyline

After being kicked out of his rock band, guitarist Dewey Finn faces a mountain of debts and depression. He shares an apartment with an old band member, Ned Schneebly, who is now a substitute teacher. Dewey accepts a job as a substitute teacher at a snobbish private elementary school where his attitude and hijinx have a powerful result on his students. He learns they are talented young musicians, and he decides to form a rock band with them to win the $10,000 prize money in a local band contest. Once Dewey wins a competition called "Battle of the Bands", the prize money would solve his financial problems and put him back in the rock music spotlight.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | substitute teacher | rock band | battle of the bands | impostor | 

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Taglines:

Heavy mental... Take notes.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some rude humor and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount UIP France [France]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

School of Rock

Filming Locations:

Buckley Country Day School - I.U. Willets Road, Herricks, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,622,714, 5 October 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$81,261,177

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$131,282,949

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the class are at the tryouts for the Battle of the Bands contest, Summer and Dewey are on the stage talking to the director. In this scene, when Jack Black's character gets frustrated, he throws a chair. According to the commentary on the DVD, this wasn't part of the script and Miranda Cosgrove didn't know this was going to happen. You can see her react by jumping when the chair is thrown. This is a completely real reaction.

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Goofs

At the concert, the shadow of the camera falls on the amplifier in a close-up of Alex.

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Quotes

Dewey Finn: [Assigning positions to the band members] Lead guitar... Zack Attack. On bass... Posh Spice. On keyboards, Mr. Cool. And on drums, Spazzy McGee. OK, Blondie, Brace Face, you're singing backup. All right, Tough Guy, Shortstop, Fancy Pants, get over here. You're on security detail.
Billy: Can I be the band stylist instead?
Dewey Finn: Of course you can, Fancy Pants. OK. Carrot Top, Roadrunner, Turkey Sub, we're gonna have a lot of equipment... And you three...
[looking at the three tiny girls]
Dewey Finn: groupies... As for me, ...

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Crazy Credits

The first few opening credits are on a guy's jacket and various posters in a rock club.

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Alternate Versions

In the theatrical version of the film, the performance by School of Rock during the end credits is changed. Originally, after several solos, Dewey tells Katie she does not get one, as bassists don't get solos and that's just how it works. This was changed for the DVD and TV versions: Dewey does not tell Katie that bassists don't get solos and she does not assume she gets one anyhow.

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Connections

References Good Times (1974)

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Soundtracks

Highway To Hell
by Bon Scott, Angus Young & Malcolm Young

User Reviews

Great, hilarious performance by Jack Black

Dewey Finn is a lazy freeloader and a guitarist in a rock band who plays gigs every night and sleeps every day, in his friend Ned Schneebly's apartment. One day as he shows up late for band practice he notices a new guitar player who is replacing him. Poor Dewey feels so bad about it and also about Ned and his girlfriend threatening to kick him out since he doesn't pay any of the bills. After a few days of trying to sell his guitars, which doesn't go very well, the head of a school calls and asks for Ned Schneebly, who is a talented substitute teacher with a good reputation. In a desperate attempt to getting money fast, Dewey impersonates Ned and conveniently finds himself the teacher of a third grade ( or something like that ) class for several weeks ahead. Yet another one of his crazy ideas strikes him and his plan to turn his class into a rockband to win the Battle of the Bands competition is set in motion.

School Of Rock is a great feel-good comedy, fun for just about anyone of any age, kids or adults. Jack Black does carry a lot of this film on his own but I won't be too harsh on the kids in the movie, they did very well also. If anyone else should play Dewey Finn rather than Jack, it just wouldn't be the same. Since Jack is actually in a rock band in real life, and has played a few characters in films before who are also into music, he just seemed to fit right into this film. His real passion for rock music helps a lot in this film, and makes Dewey Finn one hell of a good character. The plot to this film is really good I think and Mike White did a great job on the screenplay. As did Linklater on the direction of the film.

This comedy should not be ignored just because there are kids in it, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot and you probably will too.

9/10