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Smart dumb movies'School of Rock' exception that proves the rule
By Todd Leopold
(CNN) -- Every so often, a dumb movie comes along that's really smart. "Smart" doesn't have to mean great dialogue or brilliant acting. It just means that the movie's well constructed, that it has a few surprises, and that it's a heck of a lot better than it has any right to be. Usually these movies have plots that would be cliches in most filmmakers' hands. "There's Something About Mary" fits the bill -- a sweet movie that has some wonderfully unexpected farce (particularly the scene with Ben Stiller cringing in Mary's family's bathroom as her parents, a cop and a fireman examine his zipper-caught privates). So does "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." "Risky Business" came at the end of a string of dopey teen sex films -- and was much better and more layered than any of them. Now there's "The School of Rock," which would -- on first glance -- seem to be a dog. Jack Black stars as a failed musician who ends up as a schoolteacher and turns wimpy fifth-graders on to arena rock. In some hands, this would be something along the lines of "Snow Dogs II" -- a pointless, humorless star vehicle. But look at the credits: directed by Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused," "Slacker"), written by Mike White ("The Good Girl," "Chuck and Buck"). At the very least, it's gonna be interesting. Early reviews say it's a whole lot more. Eye on Entertainment lends an ear. Eye-openerMike White has said in interviews that he wrote the part of Dewey Finn, the rock musician played by Black, expressly for the actor. Apparently Black took the role and ran with it. "The School of Rock" begins as Finn is losing his job with a rock band tired of his stage-hogging antics. He assumes his roommate's identity to get a job as a teacher, and then manages to mold his class into a rock band who can win a movie-concluding contest. He does so under the suspicious eyes of Principal Mullins (Joan Cusack) and the students' parents. Scoffing at authority? Rock music overcomes all? Big concluding contest? (I wonder who wins?) Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But "School of Rock" has won over the critics with its clever take on these hoary movie formulas. The Associated Press calls it "a nearly miraculous comedy." Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A." Black has earned comparable plaudits. A month after a fairly lame summer ended, it looks like there's a comedy that lives up to the name. On screen• Denzel Washington plays a police chief framed in a murder investigation in "Out of Time." Sanaa Lathan and Dean Cain co-star. The movie was directed by Carl Franklin ("One False Move"), who also worked with Washington for "Devil in a Blue Dress." • "Wonderland," starring Val Kilmer and Kate Bosworth, is based on the story of porn star John Holmes, who got addicted to cocaine and ended up involved in a quadruple murder in Los Angeles. The movie opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles and will go wider later in the month. On the tube• "Saturday Night Live" opens its 29th (!) season with the aforementioned Jack Black as host and John Mayer as musical guest. Saturday, 11:30 p.m., NBC. • Mary Tyler Moore plays an 80-year-old woman who strikes up a friendship with an ex-con handyman (Liam Waite) after the handyman finds an abandoned baby in "Blessings," the TV-movie version of the Anna Quindlen novel. Sunday, 9 p.m., CBS. Sound waves• If Ludacris suffered much from the Bill O'Reilly-led protest of Pepsi last year, it didn't show much in his record sales. The rapper's new album, "Chicken & Beer" (Def Jam), is due Tuesday. My guess is that many people won't like the album cover. • It's been almost 25 years since Rickie Lee Jones hit the Top Five with "Chuck E's in Love." Since then, she's been determined not to do "Chuck E's in Love Again," instead exploring various musical styles with each successive album. Her latest, "Evening of My Best Day" (V2), is out Tuesday. Paging readers• If you believe the author, Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" came close to being pulped -- that is, "disappeared" in publishing lingo -- in the months after September 11, 2001 due to fears about its content. Instead, the book was released and became a major bestseller. Moore's new work, "Dude, Where's My Country?" (Warner Books, a division of Time Warner, also parent company of CNN) is due Tuesday. • Lance Armstrong's first book, "It's Not About the Bike," was also a big bestseller. His latest volume, "Every Second Counts" (Broadway), comes out Tuesday. • Leon Uris may be gone, but before he died he finished one more novel, "O'Hara's Choice" (HarperCollins). The book, which concerns the Marine Corps of the late 19th century, is set for release Tuesday. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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