Rock School | Review

Doc gives viewers the front row seat view of a radical after-school program.

Less than 2 years ago, comedian Jack Black and director Richard Linklater gave us a cute, positive-reinforcement PG film about reaching out to youth by the teachings of music. Now comes a documentary about a guitar string enthusiast giving a blasphemous 101 introduction to the history of Rock n Roll – minus of course the sex and drugs. If you thought that little league coaches were obnoxious then Don Argott’s Sundance entry Rock School will give parents another reason to fear what their children are taught during their extra-circular activities.

When the big personality and worrisome theatrics of Paul Green don’t totally gobble up the screen, there are genuine moments that show the positive influence that an adult can have on a young person’s life. Partially filmed with fly-on-the-wall aesthetics and sectioned with a couple of Q and A’s, this spans a little over a year showcasing this odd relationship fostered in a cramped building. Utilizing his dictatorship rants, the failed rock star fantasies in Mr.Green pushes these young minds and small fingers to hone their talents into future Jimi Hendrixs – unfortunately, while practice does make perfect it won’t make future rock stars – a fact which the prof might not have figured out yet.

The doc makes a point out of exploring the nature of this offbeat relationship – on one hand, we get the impression that this man will do more harm than good while at other times we clearly see the instrumental process of getting kids to do things besides getting Nintendo hand cramps. While there are not enough teachers out there that don’t talk down to children – this man is unfortunately caught one too many times on camera as more of an instigator instead of an educator. While most of the film questions the teaching methods of self-confessed preacher of Satan, what is charming is to witness the lucky few who get to experience the thrills of playing a dig in front of a live audience.

Crafting a doc that feels more like an assemblage of caught on camera moments Argott focalizes a little too much on the hissy fits of Mr.Green. The making the drive towards the big show eventually drains the energy out of this social meta-cinema experiment with a more interesting direction could have been to get in the minds of these kids or look at the ratio between how many adult friends and how many guitars that this Green possesses. Despite a sincere effort, Rock School in comparison to the Jack Black film shows that the real thing isn’t necessarily better – even real music fans won’t find much of a reason to raise the volume on this one.

Rating 1 stars