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.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.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.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 23 nominations
- Freddy Jones
- (as Kevin Clark)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEarly in filming, an insecure Robert Tsai approached director Richard Linklater and tried to talk him out of letting him be in the movie because he felt he wasn't right for the role. Linklater responded that it was his very insecurity that made him exactly right for the role, and kept him in. Fittingly, Tsai's character, Lawrence, has a very similar conversation with Dewey Finn (Mr. S) about not feeling right for his role in the band.
- GoofsWhen they are playing Zack's song for the first time. The drummer Freddy and bass player Katie have scene costumes, but in the next clip, they are back in their school uniforms.
- Quotes
Dewey Finn: Now, what makes you mad more than anything in the world?
[sees Billy who has his hand raised]
Dewey Finn: Billy?
Billy: You!
Dewey Finn: Billy, we've already told me off. Let's move on.
Billy: You're tacky and I hate you!
Dewey Finn: Okay, you see me after class!
- Crazy creditsThe "School of Rock" band jams through the closing credits.
- Alternate versionsIn the theatrical version of the movie, the performance by School of Rock during the ending 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.
- SoundtracksFight
Written by Warren Fitzgerald and Mike White
Performed by No Vacancy
Produced by George Drakoulias
Black plays Dewey Finn, an aging rock'n'roller who is still awaiting that moment when he will "make it big" in the music world. He lives with Ned Schneebly, his longtime rocker buddy, who has traded in his dreams of musical glory for a nagging girlfriend and a job as a substitute teacher. Desperate for money to pay the rent, Dewey pretends to be Schneebly and takes a job as a sub at a snooty, tradition-bound prep school, where the last thing the administration and the parents would want is a Jimmy Hendricks knockoff teaching their kids. And since Dewey really only knows one thing, this uncredentialed professorial imposter decides to make rock'n'roll the sole focus of his curriculum, turning these inward, shy, nerdish kids into a viable rock band - all under the radar screen of the ever-watchful administrators and parents of course.
Although the storyline wends its way along a predictable path, writer Mike White and director Richard Linklater find a great deal of warmth and humor in the material. Dewey's utter obsession with rock music and rock history is reflected in the fact that he leads the band members in a prayer to the "god of rock" before a concert, and screams in frustration - "What have they been teaching you kids at this school?" - when he finds out his pupils have never been educated in the basics of Hendricks, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Dewey is so preposterously well-meaning and good-natured that the audience can't help but root for him and his students as they embark on their mad quest to appear at a local battle of the bands competition, unbeknownst to the powers-that-be at the school.
The children playing the students are all winning and charming, and Joan Cusack cuts a sympathetic figure as the uptight school principal who harbors a little bit of Stevie Nicks under her prim and proper exterior. But it is Black who makes this film his own, turning what might have been a buffoonish caricature into a fully-rounded human being. Black is not afraid to cut loose and take over the screen when necessary, hitting heights of unbridled mania to rival the master, Jim Carrey. Yet, he also realizes that he is part of an ensemble effort here and understands the importance of integrating himself into the material and not always dominating it. As a result, even when certain elements of the film fall flat, as they frequently do, Black is always there to prop the movie back up.
"The School of Rock" is an entertaining little comedy, but unlike a real satire which would skewer the conventions of the genre it is attacking, this film loses its nerve and winds up endorsing those conventions. Dewey, for all his talk about defying "The Man," is really a rebel in name only, and the film reflects the kind of feel-good populism that no true hard line iconoclast would be caught dead supporting. I guess it's too much to expect a mainstream Hollywood comedy to launch a truly savage assault on mainstream values (in the way rock, at its best, often does). Still, it might be nice to come across the unexpected sometime (after all, movies like "Dr. Strangelove" and "MASH" were able to do it).
Until then, we'll settle for what we can get. And Jack Black is good enough for now.
- Buddy-51
- Dec 20, 2004
Movies & Series About Musicians
Movies & Series About Musicians
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Rock Học Trò
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $35,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $81,261,177
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,622,714
- Oct 5, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $131,095,990
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1