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 his class 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 shall teach Rock & Roll to the world!

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Spain, Jack Black was dubbed by singer-actor Dani Martín. Martin had no dubbing experience but it was chosen because in the time of the movie his rock band "El Canto de Loco" was a big hit in Spain. This dubbing is considered one of the worst dubbing ever made in Spain due to Martin's casting choice.

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Goofs

Towards the beginning of the movie, Summer clearly states that her parents pay 15,000 dollars a year for her tuition. When the angry parents confront Principal Mullins after parent night, Summer's mother shouts numerous times "I do not pay 15,000 dollars a month for my child...".

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Quotes

Mrs. Lemmons: Hey guys, guess what? I've just been informed that your children have all gone missing so...
Several: WHAT?

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Crazy Credits

Shortly after that, the band sings: The movie is over Credits got to roll Look at that name there I do not know that guy

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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 Fear of Clowns (2004)

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Soundtracks

Ballrooms of Mars
by Marc Bolan
Performed by T. Rex
Courtesy of Wizard Bahamas Ltd
Issued under exclusive license from Demon Music Group Ltd.

User Reviews

Maybe it's not intelligent - but it's funny and it rocks!

Glancing at what other people have written about this movie, it seems that these individuals are taking this film a bit too seriously. Worrying about the "messages" this movie is delivering? Come on, there is no way that the con that Jack Black's character pulls off could ever get far in the real world! I don't think any sane person watching this movie would take this seriously. This is a comedy, for crying out loud, made to make us laugh!

I thought Black was fine in this movie. Sure, maybe his character is a little one-note with his proclamations of "rock on" and "stick it to the man", but Black somehow manages to do it over and over without being boring. He's unbelievably energetic AND versatile, delivering these same things in different ways each time that prevent the movie from getting into a rut. I think it's safe to say that only Black himself could have made this role work so well.

There is plenty of humor and great music. Even my senior citizen parents kept laughing, and told me after it was over that they enjoyed the rock soundtrack as well. It's a great movie for the whole family. Why was this rated PG-13? Sure, there are some references to stuff like alcohol and groupies, but they are not emphasized at all in their brief passing - and your kids will already have seen these kind of things treated much worse elsewhere! In fact, here in British Columbia, the ratings board gave it a "G" rating.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

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

Gross USA:

$81,261,177

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$131,095,614

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