Rock School Reviews

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Top Critic
Stella Papamichael
BBC.com
August 23, 2005
It's like Spinal Tap, only shorter.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
Top Critic
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
July 8, 2005
So overpowering is Green's outsized, needy, arrested-adolescent personality (while you initially suspect he's playing for the camera, the blas attitude of his students suggests he really is like this), it throws the movie off-balance.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4
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Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
July 8, 2005
Their playing is terrific, but there's little doubt the kids are fulfilling Green's fantasy rather than the other way around.
Original Score: 2.5/4
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Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
June 10, 2005
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.
Original Score: 3/4
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Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
June 10, 2005
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.
Original Score: B
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Michael Booth
Denver Post
June 10, 2005
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.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4
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Claudia Puig
USA Today
June 9, 2005
Rock fans will likely find the cast of characters and its 'berlord' founder compelling.
Full Review
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Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
June 9, 2005
The relationship between the talent-challenged Will and the punishing Green makes for one of the film's meatier dramatic threads.
Original Score: 3.5/4
Top Critic
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
June 6, 2005
Director Don Argott does a superb job of capturing this unique institution and this great teacher.
Top Critic
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
June 3, 2005
Green is a grim martinet, given to chair-throwing tantrums and fits of temper that look suspiciously choreographed for the camera.
Full Review
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Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
June 3, 2005
Engrossing from its first shot to its final fade.
Original Score: 3.5/4
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Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune
June 3, 2005
Hilarious, inspired, frenzied.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4
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John Hartl
Seattle Times
June 3, 2005
Raw and funny documentary.
Original Score: 3/4
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Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle
June 3, 2005
The narrative moves quickly and the characters are so much fun, that there's little time for inventory of what's missing.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4
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Ty Burr
Boston Globe
June 3, 2005
As a portrait of dysfunctional pedagogy, it's both refreshing and more than a little terrifying.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
June 3, 2005
Exuberant and surprisingly unsettling documentary.
Original Score: 3/4
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Lou Lumenick
New York Post
June 3, 2005
A rousing, garage-band-style documentary.
Original Score: 3/4
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Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
June 3, 2005
With its encomiums to Green and its feel-good finale in Germany, Rock School sometimes threatens to succumb to Mad Hot Ballroom syndrome... But Argott weaves a darker thread into the movie ...
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
June 2, 2005
Green is not an angry jerk so much as a guy playing an angry jerk because he loves rock music and wants these kids to play it well.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2005
Immensely entertaining.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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