School of Rock
For the documentary about an actual school of rock music, see Rock School (film). For the Gene Simmons TV show, see Rock School.School of Rock (
2003) is a
comedy film starring
Jack Black. The film was written specifically for Black by
Mike White, and directed by
Richard Linklater. Although a few references give this film's name as
The School of Rock, which may have been its initial working title, its
official website (and most other references) refer to it as
School of Rock.
This critically-acclaimed movie is credited with sparking an amazing interest in
classic rock among members of
Generation Y, a generation notable for its interest in music that predates itself, such as bands like
AC/DC,
The Beatles,
The Who,
Led Zeppelin,
Black Sabbath,
Metallica,
Pink Floyd, and many others.
This film features musical talent comparable to
child prodigy from actors as young as 10 who play guitar, bass, drums and keyboard (not to mention some surprisingly well-trained voices) remarkably well.
A reality show called
Rock School was allegedly based on the film, though the producers claim it was in the works since 2002.
Black plays Dewey Finn, a talented yet excitable 30-year-old
heavy metal/
hard rock singer and
guitarist with a reputation for being difficult to work with. His flamboyant on-stage antics, however, get him kicked out of his band, "No Vacancy." His roommate Ned, a substitute teacher (played by White), threatens eviction (under heavy pressure from his overbearing girlfriend) unless Dewey gets a real job and pays his rent debt of $2200. A phone call from the principal of a prestigious
prep school (played by
Joan Cusack) asking for his roommate's services leads Dewey to impersonate his roommate and get a job as a substitute for the fifth-grade class.
Dewey takes the job to make a little money with as little effort as possible. When he discovers that some of the kids in the class have musical talent, he decides to turn his temporary job into what he tells them is a special school project but is actually a personal one: turn a classroom full of kids into a band and crew, complete with a ten-year-old manager played by
Miranda Cosgrove from
Drake & Josh which will serve as a vehicle to stardom.
Dewey is the band's lead singer and rock teacher, exposing his students to such rock legends as
AC/DC,
The Beatles,
The Who,
Led Zeppelin (Dewey: "Don't tell me you've never gotten the Led out."),
Pink Floyd,
Rush, and
Yes. Four rock stars are featured with classic footage in the movie:
Jimi Hendrix,
Pete Townshend,
Angus Young and
Keith Moon. The movie culminates in the class's final project: performance in a local
battle of the bands, where, instead of playing Dewey's "
In the End of Time" they play "School of Rock" written by one of the young band members. The class loses to Dewey's old band, which plays very generic, low-tempo rock. However, the class doesn't care about the loss because Dewey's "school of rock" gives them more self-esteem and an understanding that rock transcends traditional notions of success and failure (Freddy the drummer: "Rock isn't about getting an 'A'.
Sex Pistols never won anything."). The band get an encore from the crowd and play "
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" by
AC/DC. This scene fades to the credits, which play over the next scene. This last scene features Dewey and Ned's 'School of Rock', in the form of them teaching kids to play in their apartment. The footage featuring Dewey and the kids playing "It's a Long Way to the Top" in the apartment was almost entirely improvised.
Supporting actors in the film include
Joan Cusack,
Sarah Silverman,
Adam Pascal, and (an uncredited)
Frank Whaley.
* All the music played by the kids in the film is actually performed by the child actors.
*One of the tag lines is a direct quote from the Pink Floyd song, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2.
* All the kids with talent said that their parents taught them music.
* Jack Black admitted that he is still learning how to play the electric guitar and claims that the kids in the film are much better than he is. However, he said he loves doing solo parts and plays acoustic guitar more than he does electric.
* The film is one of the few to feature a
Led Zeppelin song as the band is known for not licensing their music. Knowing this, Richard Linklater filmed a plea by actor Jack Black in front of 1,000 screaming fans, imploring the band to let the production use the "
Immigrant Song" in the movie. The plea worked and the filmed request is included on the DVD.
* On May 5, 2006, the film got its network premiere on FOX. The event was hosted by Jack Black, who was also promoting his movie
Nacho Libre (another Paramount release), opening June 16, 2006.
* Black's character in the film claims that rock 'n roll was killed by "a little thing called
MTV." Coincidentally,
School of Rock was released by
Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of
Viacom, parent company of MTV.
* All the segments that Dewey taught the students to play were from real songs (e.g. Laurence played a segment from "
Touch Me" by
The Doors, and Zack played segments from
Black Sabbath's "
Iron Man",
Deep Purple's "
Smoke on the Water", and
AC/DC's "
Highway to Hell".
* Katie is the only band member who does not get a
solo during the end credits. Though one was filmed, it wasn't shown in the movie (all the singers, Zack, Laurence, and Freddy got solos.)
* Jack Black is one half of the band
Tenacious D.* The album's original soundtrack was recorded at Echo Canyon, a studio belonging to the highly-influential rock band
Sonic Youth. Then member
Jim O'Rourke had a large part in the process acting as music consultant for the film.
* Much of the movie was filmed on location at
Wagner College in
Staten Island.
*
School of Rock is one of a select few films that feature a song by Led Zeppelin. Others include
Fast Times at Ridgemont High,
Almost Famous,
The Stoned Age,
One Day in September, and
Small Soldiers.
* The movie can be considered an AC/DC homage film, as many of the songs are by AC/DC and there are many quotes from AC/DC's songs (such as "for those about to rock), Also the idea that the band will play with school uniform is direct reference to AC/DC's image. Also, Jack Black uses a Gibson SG guitar - the same guitar AC/DC's lead guitarist Angus Young uses.
The film has been nominated for several awards, including a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor - Comedy or Musical, and won Black an
MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.
A School of Rock was founded in
Philadelphia in 1998 by musician
Paul Green and was the subject of a recent award-winning
documentary,
Rock School. Green's program, personality, and life story may have influenced many of the aspects of the film. However, no credit was given to the program for inspiration. The school now has locations in
Philadelphia,
New York City,
Downingtown,
Cherry Hill,
Somers Point,
South Hackensack,
Bucks County,
Salt Lake City,
Los Angeles,
Wilmington and
San Francisco.
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Jack Black (Dewey Finn)
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Mike White (Ned Schneebly)
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Sarah Silverman (Patty de Marco)
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Adam Pascal (Theo)
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Joan Cusack (Rosalie Mullins): Horace Green Principal
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Joey Gaydos Jr. (Zach Mooneyham): Lead Guitarist
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Rebecca Julia Brown (Katie): Bass Guitarist
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Kevin Alexander Clark (Freddy Jones): Drummer
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Robert Tsai (Lawrence): Keyboardist
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Maryam Hassan (Tomika): Back-up Vocalist
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Caitlin Hale (Marta): Back-up Vocalist
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Aleisha Allen (Alicia): Back-up Vocalist
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Miranda Cosgrove (Summer Hathaway): Band Manager
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Veronica Afflerbach (Eleni): Band Groupie
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Jordan-Claire Green (Michelle): Band Groupie
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Angelo Massagli (Frankie): Band Security
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Cole Hawkins (Leonard): Band Security
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Brian Falduto (Billy): Band Stylist
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James Hosey (Marco): Band Roadie
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Zachary Ryan Infante (Gordon): Band Roadie
Interview with Rebecca Brown at BassGirls.Com:-
Rebecca Brown*
Official site*
Review(s)
