Linklater's direction -- right from the tossed-off opening credits -- is the happiest and most relaxed it's been since Dazed and Confused.
Comment
10/03/03
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School of Rock (2003)
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:183
Fresh:167
Rotten:16
Average Rating:7.7/10
Consensus: Black's exuberant, gleeful performance turns School of Rock into a hilarious, rocking good time.
Theatrical Release:Oct 3, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $81,147,397
Synopsis: SCHOOL OF ROCK is a hilarious romp that parents will enjoy as much as their children. Jack Black stars as Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star who doesn't seem to be rocking much of anything these days.... [More]
Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman
Director: Richard Linklater
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Reviews for School of Rock
Top CriticA hip and consistently hilarious family comedy.
10/03/03
Top CriticThis is fun for everyone, even those (like me) who hate contemporary rock music.
10/03/03
Top CriticA family movie in the way The Osbournes is a family TV show. It puts the brimstone back into the treacle and, in the process, puts in the fun.
10/03/03
An inspired, invigorating comedy that will have you laughing from its opening moments to its closing credits.
10/03/03
Fall-down, grab-your-sides, throw-up funny.
10/03/03
Black can go to the head of the class.
10/03/03
One of those kid-movies that hits home with Boomer and Gen-X adults as well as their offspring.
10/03/03
Linklater strikes just the right power chords here. He respects rock enough to keep it real, and he has enough rein on Black to ground his wildness in warmth while avoiding easy sentiment.
10/03/03
Top CriticA picture with pop's delicious energy yet none of its attendant risk, a flick that no one will love but everyone will like.
10/03/03
Director Richard Linklater and writer Mike White hit all of the right notes with the perfect combination of funny for families, groovy enough for grown-ups and campy enough for cool kids.
10/03/03
Splendid fare, a fun-filled power chord of a flick all ages can enjoy.
10/03/03
One of the sweetest, most appealing comedies to come along in quite some time, and much of that can be attributed to Black, who reveals a considerably more tender side here.
10/03/03
School of Rock will play you like a Gibson Flying V. And you will like it.
10/03/03
Not only is the heart of rock 'n' roll still beating, it's also highly amusing.
10/03/03
Credit for its hilarity goes largely to Black, who gives the performance of his career as a character who might have seemed merely coarse and crude in less gifted hands.
10/03/03
Here is a movie that proves you can make a family film that's alive and well-acted and smart and perceptive and funny -- and that rocks.
10/03/03
Top CriticThere's nothing like a cleverly written bildungsromanic underdog makeover movie with the mother of all music-deity- laden soundtracks to Rock your world.
10/03/03
School could best be described as The Bad News Bears with heavy-metal guitar moves instead of home runs, but that it touches all the predictable bases somehow becomes part of its charm.
10/03/03
This raucous riff teaches that there's no substitute for a single, dynamic performer, one who can make us giggle just by walking into a shot.
10/03/03
Top CriticLatest News for School of Rock
August 05, 2009:
Columbia Adopts White's Babe in the Woods 
"School of Rock" writer Mike White has sold Columbia Pictures his script for "Babe in the Woods," an action-comedy about "a female freshman from the Midwest who arrives at Yale... More...
October 17, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Is Burn After Reading A Coens Classic? Does Eagle Eye Have Enough Action, Man?
In this week's roster of UK cinema releases we have the latest addition to the Coen canon in the CIA comedy caper, Burn After Reading, Shia LeBeouf stakes a further claim to the... More...
September 08, 2008:
Linklater Says "Not So Fast" to School of Rock 2
According to Richard Linklater, Paramount may have jumped the gun when they announced that "School of Rock 2" was on its way. More...
July 14, 2008:
Jack Black Heading Back to School
Looks like Mike White's School of Rock 2 script was pretty solid -- Paramount has given the sequel a green light, and Jack Black has signed on to star. More...
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