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:

We don't need no education.

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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

All the kids really play their instruments, and the backup singers are real vocalists. Jack Black also played a bit of guitar in the movie (for example, when he is teaching "Smoke on the Water," "Iron Man," and other songs to Zach), but he didn't do the guitar solos.

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Goofs

The title of the movie is "School of Rock". The only time it is referred to as "The School of Rock" is a neon sign at the very beginning. The directors commentary addresses the titling error and specifically states that the title is "School of Rock."

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Quotes

Dewey Finn: I pledge allegiance... to the band... of Mr. Schneebly... and will not fight him... for creative control... and will defer to him on all issues related to the musical direction of the band.

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Crazy Credits

The "School Of Rock" band jams throughout the closing credits.

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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

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Despicable Me/The Kids Are All Right (2010)

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Soundtracks

Math Is A Wonderful Thing
by Jack Black & Mike White

User Reviews

For Those about to Rock, We Salute this Movie

What can I say? I'm a rockaholic. I eat, breath, and dream of classic rock and it's glory days. I listen to only rock radios, and every other morning I go on an AC/DC Binge. Rock is pure, and beautiful.

Unfortunately, it's not the only music out there.

Pop culture today sucks, putting it nicely. All that stuff out there is ruining the minds of people of today. For a little while it seems like rock disappeared, hiding underneath everything else, being disregarded by fans today.

Then 'School of Rock' came along.

Dewey Finn (played by Jack Black) is a bum who gets himself kicked out of his own band because of his unruly antics. To top this off, his substitute teacher roommate Ned and Ned's girlfriend Patti begin to nag Dewey for rent money. Dewey can't pay it off. After spending some time trying to sell his personal belongings, a phone call from a prestigious prep school looking for a substitute teacher catches Dewey's attention and he parades around as Ned, hoping to just walk in, let the kids do what they want, get some money, and be gone like nothing every happened.

Until he finds out that the class of fifth graders he has been assigned to teach are musically and vocally talented.

This sparks an idea off in Dewey's mind, thinking that he can turn his group of fifth graders into a rock group so that he can win 25,000 dollars in a contest called 'The Battle of the Bands'.

This is a wonderful, classic - rock fueled movie. Jack Black is hysterical as Dewey Finn. The children are all talented, particularly the ones on instruments and vocals.

If you want to love rock music, go watch this movie.

If not, then you'll have missed out on something great.