School of Rock

‘Stop reading! It’s time for rock! It’s not just Mr Schneebly’s admittedly somewhat one-sided teaching programme that seems a little out of place in the venerable halls of this elite school. His van, plastered with Led Zeppelin stickers, also stands out like a sore thumb in the school car park. Jack Black, undaunted in his self-assessment (‘I serve society by rocking!’), plays a loser with rock band ambitions who passes himself off as a supply teacher and teaches the children the deeper values of Black Sabbath and AC/DC. One might dismiss the film as a brilliant one-man show, but the obvious joy of everyone involved speaks against that. From the children, who all play music themselves, right through to Joan Cusack’s wonderfully stiff headmistress: condescension is a word this film doesn’t know. And one might object that School of Rock takes the easy way out in its devoted celebration of its naïve, innocent protagonist. But just stop reading. It’s time to rock!’ (Christoph Huber, Austrian Film Museum, June 2007)