Opening

77% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
30% The Hangover Part III May 23
88% Epic May 24
97% Before Midnight May 24
70% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
88% Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

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46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
98% Mud $2.2M
36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31

Rock School (2004)

tomatometer

82

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 77
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 14

Boasting an entertaining and eccentric cast of characters, Rock School lives up to its name.

85

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 4

Boasting an entertaining and eccentric cast of characters, Rock School lives up to its name.

audience

64

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 14,856

My Rating

Movie Info

Paul Green is a man who declares himself born to teach kids, but he has nothing to do with the traditional educational system. Musician Green is the proprietor of the Paul Green School of Rock Music, an after-school facility in Philadelphia where kids from 9 to 17 learn how to play instruments and work together in a band. While Green outwardly seems like a loose cannon who yells at his students and acts only marginally more mature than a high schooler, the kids who attend his school love him and

R,

Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

Sep 13, 2005

$58.2k

Newmarket Films - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (85) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (14) | DVD (10)

So overpowering is Green's outsized, needy, arrested-adolescent personality (while you initially suspect he's playing for the camera, the blasé attitude of his students suggests he really is like this), it throws the movie off-balance.

July 8, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Their playing is terrific, but there's little doubt the kids are fulfilling Green's fantasy rather than the other way around.

July 8, 2005 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
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Green's heart, if not his head, seems in the right place. He's carrying the torch and holding it high, and his students seem to dig it.

June 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
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I don't know what it means that rock 'n' roll has become a bona fide after-school activity, but Rock School definitely kept my attention.

June 10, 2005
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Succeeds as a riveting movie because it doesn't try to lead us from verse to an obvious chorus about Green, or his uniquely abusive methods.

June 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Denver Post
Denver Post
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Rock fans will likely find the cast of characters and its 'überlord' founder compelling.

June 9, 2005 Full Review Source: USA Today
USA Today
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For all of his questionable methods, Paul Green gets results that are revealed when he takes a group of students to perform the difficult music of Frank Zappa at a Zappa festival in Bad Doberon, East Germany.

April 15, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

Engaging documentary rated R because of language.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Watching the students band together to rock -- and the faces of the audience and participants when they realize what these kids are capable of -- is a joy.

October 2, 2006
Christianity Today

The documentary studies the different children at the school, some lazy, some brilliant, some sensitive. Argott traces their development.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

The result isn't pretty -- but it does, on occasion, rock.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

Where you'll find a bunch of raucous and talented kids, you'll find at least one glory-hungry grown-up intent on stealing the spotlight.

September 23, 2005 Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com
DVDTalk.com

Engaging, ultimately uplifting documentary that is by turns hilarious and horrifying - but say what you like about Green's methods, he certainly gets results.

September 10, 2005 Full Review Source: ViewLondon
ViewLondon

It's like Spinal Tap, only shorter.

August 23, 2005 Full Review Source: BBC

Audience Reviews for Rock School

Engaging and provocative, this home-movie-style documentary continually caught me off guard as it follows a teacher and his students. This isn't a normal classroom and the way they interact defies educational conventions. They're not learning how to be the next Beyonce or All American Rejects clone; they're studying Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Carlos Santana and Pink Floyd, much more challenging and complex music that requires intense skill.

The biggest kid of all has to be Paul Green, himself. The man throws tantrums and objects at his students and seems to have the f-word permanently programmed to roll off his tongue. He's obnoxious, condescending and an egomaniac, but the kids keep coming back, even after he makes them cry. An accomplished guitarist, Green chose to teach, but confesses he's not so sure he ever wants his students to be better than he is. His goal is to get them to the point where they can play Frank Zappa. And not just any Zappa song, he wants them to learn Inca Roads, one of Zappa's most difficult and musically challenging arrangements. Green gets his moment in the spotlight, but the documentary shows that it's the kids who really shine.
July 4, 2008
DrBenway
El Hombre Invisible

Super Reviewer

This is a good documentary about how children can better themselves through heavy metal and verbal abuse. All joking aside, this was kind of hard to watch. I just wanted to punch the teacher-dude in the face. The redeeming feature of this movie was the jaw-dropping talent of the kids in the movie. It was so gratifying to see an original Mother of Invention drop to his knees as a ten-year-old plays Zappa's tunes.
February 13, 2007
MidnightMadwoman

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on Rock School

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