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The School of Rock | 2003 | PG-13 | - 3.3.3
Jack Black stars as a rock guitarist who refuses to grow up and become an ostensibly responsible person. When his band dumps him and his roommate threatens to kick him out if he doesn't pay his share of the rent, he masquerades as a 4th grade substitute teacher and gets a job at a snooty prep school. There, instead of following the curriculum, he keeps his class entertained with rock history and music lessons and tries to recruit a 9-year-old guitar prodigy for an upcoming "battle of the bands" contest. Also with Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman, Mike White and Kevin Alexander Clark. Directed by Richard Linklater. [1:48]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man and a woman kiss a couple of times. A man tells a girl what a groupie is: "They sleep with the band." A man talks to boys about "scoring chicks," a man tells a woman "you are hot." Men on stage are bare-chested and one dances with suggestive moves. A man takes off his shirt on stage and we see him bare-chested, a man sleeps with no shirt on (we see his bare chest). Women wear low-rise pants and short tops that expose bare midriffs and cleavage. A boy acts in an effeminate way and seems stereotypically gay. A man makes a comment about cross-dressing.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A man jumps off a stage and into a crowd of people but nobody catches him and he slams onto the floor. A man yells at another man, he throws a chair and threatens a man. A man shoves a girl, and a girl threatens a boy. A man tears up paper and yells at a group of children. A group of parents panic and yell at a woman when they hear that their children are missing from school. Two men argue, and a boy argues with a man. There are a couple of threats of violence and a man says, "I'll smack them in the head." A man talks sternly to his son. A man kicks over a desk. A man urinates in a urinal and we hear the trickle.
LANGUAGE 3 - 7 sexual references, 2 scatological terms, 9 anatomical terms, 9 mild obscenities, 6 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. A man talks to children about "getting wasted," and people talk about a woman having gotten drunk at a party.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Growing up, rock 'n' roll, alcoholism, making a contribution to society, doing what you love, responsibility, popularity, weight issues, bullies, dreams vs. a mundane life, lying, discipline, homosexuality, loneliness, kidnapping, exploitation, a sense of humor.
MESSAGE - If you give up on your dreams you can never win.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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