Quite a departure from his tender Before Sunrise, Richard Linklater’s School of Rock is an energetic burst that rises above its flaws to become one of the most entertaining pictures of 2003. Really, it’s more of a Jack Black vehicle than a Linklater film; there are only about five minutes in the film where Black isn’t onscreen, and his absence is felt. The enjoyment of School of Rock depends almost exclusively on your views regarding Black’s acting abilities. If you find the man an overblown nuisance, chances are you won’t get much out of this one. Black’s goofy mannerisms and punkish speech are on full display, and the topic matter here lends itself perfectly to what he does best. Personally, I enjoyed his work in High Fidelity (and as a voice in Ice Age), and frequently found myself in hysterics during School of Rock. Mike White, director of Chuck and Buck, penned the script—it’s a good one, and plenty of the lines are doubly effective because of Black’s eccentric charisma. Nobody other than Dewey (Black) is more than a caricature, but anyone watching School of Rock for intense character development must have snuck into the wrong Cineplex by mistake. Its supreme silliness requires a complete willingness to disregard common sense (the storyline borders on laughably ridiculous; a bunch of kids soundproofing the door would be that effective? One beer would change the Principal’s persona that much?), but it’s easy to push aside the glitches when the guffaws are coming in buckets. And those kids are so damn cute!

School of Rock fares extraordinarily well as a comedy, but veers toward dramatic territory in its final 25 minutes, and here the picture begins to hack and wheeze a bit. Linklater appeared to get the brainstorm that he’d better be sure we all understand the “message” of the picture. Almost frantically, he tries to develop peripheral characters and toss around moral dilemmas, something that we, of course, don’t need out of this particular film. There’s already an intense contrived feel to School of Rock, and no amount of ethical treacle is going to change that. Of course, there was really no reason for Linklater to panic like that; ease up, bro’. The aforementioned contrived feel is fine and dandy, since the ride you took us on is such a blast; it’s easy to scoff away our disbelief. No need for any non-rock ‘n’ roll lessons today, Richie ol’ buddy.

There’s one tasty morsel of seriousness lingering in the messy sea here, and that’s the, um, “creative” processes that Dewey uses in the classroom. As I watched the kids intensely focus on rock lessons, I couldn’t help but feel that the Board of Education could learn something from this one. Of course, every example in School of Rock is extreme, but Principal Mullens’ stuffiness and the rigidity of the parents is a glaring and unfortunate truth in today’s society, one that too often shuns imaginative techniques for the old “tried-and-true” method. Let’s just say that one day a week in Dewey Finn’s class could do wonders for a child’s balanced growth. As is, since I doubt any Board members will be taking notes during School of Rock, I’ll simply give it a high recommendation for us average Joe’s who just want to spend a few hours laughing and rockin’ out.

3.5/4