Black goes back to school in new comedic movie opening nationwide tomorrow

Jack Black's new starring role in "School of Rock," a Scott Rudin film, provides all the traditional forms of entertainment one might expect from the star of other such films as "Shallow Hal."

There are scenes of bumbling drunkenness, visual and linguistic references to Black's 'weight issues,' and a fairly simple plot: Black's character, Dewey Finn, is an overweight rock and roller, fired from his band and unable to pay his rent. To solve his money issues, he takes a job as a substitute teacher and enters a Battle of the Bands contest, which has a first prize payout of $100.

The humor is obvious, and at times crude, but is admittedly quite entertaining. All in all, Jack Black delivered a very typical, unsurprising, Jack Black performance.

What was surprising, however, was the performance delivered by the children cast as Finn's fourth grade students, and the new level of theatrical achievement Black was able to achieve through his interactions with them.

In a recent conference call with the press, he acknowledged that the filming of the movie was a little different with the children around – he couldn't "drop any 'f-bombs'," but still, Black uses nothing but superlatives when describing the children.

He insisted that they never caused problems on the set, and that each of them were prodigies. "Any kid who can play [musical instruments] like that at age 10 is a prodigy ," Black said. "At 10, I was a professional jackass."

Each of these young actors portrayed a child with a different insecurity, giving each a reason why rock music would be a freeing influence in his or her life. "School of Rock" is able to shift the focus off Jack Black enough to allow audiences to become acquainted with many of the students.

Zack, a guitar player, has been convinced by his father that playing rock music is a waste of his considerable talents; he is so afraid of eliciting further parental disapproval that he is unaware of how exceptional his talent truly is.

Tomika has a singing voice that, according to Finn, rivals that of Aretha Franklin, yet she is so embarrassed by her excessive weight that she can't share her gift with anyone. Lawrence is a classical piano player, convinced he can't play rock music because he is not cool enough – none of the kids in the class will even talk to him.

For these students, and the others in the class, Finn seems to be a godsend. He helps them understand they are capable of great things – with the confidence he instills in them, they are able to break out of the mold placed in them by their rigid private school and become happier — more kid-like kids.

Even the most obnoxious of the fourth graders become more likable during Finn's term as their substitute teacher. Summer, the grade grubbing know-it-all, learns winning isn't the only thing that's important.

Freddy, the class troublemaker, develops his talent as a drummer and becomes less disruptive as he learns that he too can contribute something to the community of his classroom.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Finn seems to know just what to say to each of his students, and how to say it in a way that they will understand him and benefit from his guidance. In a surprising twist, Jack Black, as Dewey Finn, becomes a notable, albeit atypical role model.

His obvious concern for his students is touching; it makes Finn a likeable character, in spite of his drunkenness and total previous lack of responsibility.

In transforming his students and fellow teachers, Finn succeeds in transforming himself. When discussing his influence on the children in the film, Black downplayed the guiding role he played, saying, "I'm a kid too." He did add, though, that he was "a big fat one, like a Pied Piper."

In addition to its slapstick humor and the heartwarming performances by its younger cast members, "School of Rock" features a star-studded soundtrack.

With "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, which rarely allows its music to appear in films, as well as songs by Cream, Stevie Nicks, the Doors, the Ramones, T. Rex and The Who, the movie is sure to be a hit with rock fans.

Even the song written by Zack, a fourth grader, has real musical appeal. All music heard in the movie is played by Black himself, with the exception of the guitar solos. The soundtrack came out on Sept. 30th.

While "School of Rock" will likely not be receiving any Oscar nominations, it does offer good laughs and several interesting performances, including Joan Cusack's role as principal, improving upon its less-than-stellar storyline. The movie should be a good study break. "School of Rock" opens in theatres nationwide tomorrow.