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TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY
Jack Black has provided more than his share of laughs on the big screen over the years, but those who know the actor as well as those who saw School of Rock know that this is one actor who wants to be a rock and roll musician. When not making movies, Jack and his partner Kyle Gass make music together as Tenacious D and Black was finally allowed to combine his passion with his bread and butter for a 2006 oddity called Tenacious D in The Pick of Detiny.
Black and Gass are basically playing exaggerated versions of themselves here, a pair of Venice California rock and roll potheads who plan to participate in an open mic night and decide that the only way they can win the competition is to steal a legendary guitar pick that is under very tight security at the Rock and Roll History Museum.
Black and Gass had a really solid idea here but I just don't think they believed in their own concept enough to trust it to deliver what they wanted. I don't know if there's an actual term for it...for the sake of this review, I'm calling it "Rock and Roll Improv", the art of putting instant lyrics to famous rock progressions, but there is NOBODY in the business who does it better than Jack Black and as this movie began, I thought "OMG, this is going to be awesome, a Jack Black rock and roll opera!" Unfortunately, my dreams turned to dross when characters actually started speaking lines, because most of the actors cast in this film were pretty dreadful (including Gass). If Black had fully committed to this idea and made the story a rock opera, this film would have been amazing.
Instead of amazing, what we ended up with is a sluggish musical comedy that provides laughs, especially for rock music fans, but these laughs do not sustain through the closing credits...and the film is only 90 minutes long! Sadly, it was a pretty long ninety minutes that found me glancing at my watch on occassion and even stifling the occasional yawn.
Jack Black is almost always worth watching, documented by School of Rock, but I think he might have had the ear of director Liam Lynch a little more in order to keep this thing moving at an entertaining pace. Gass is no actor but Black's respect for the guy is evident in every frame and every moment that these two spend in front of mics with guitars strapped to their chests was gold; unfortunately, there weren't enough of them. There are some clever cameos by Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, and Fred Armisen, but it's Black and Gass' show and their idea was a good one, I just wish they had committed to it completely.
Jack Black has provided more than his share of laughs on the big screen over the years, but those who know the actor as well as those who saw School of Rock know that this is one actor who wants to be a rock and roll musician. When not making movies, Jack and his partner Kyle Gass make music together as Tenacious D and Black was finally allowed to combine his passion with his bread and butter for a 2006 oddity called Tenacious D in The Pick of Detiny.
Black and Gass are basically playing exaggerated versions of themselves here, a pair of Venice California rock and roll potheads who plan to participate in an open mic night and decide that the only way they can win the competition is to steal a legendary guitar pick that is under very tight security at the Rock and Roll History Museum.
Black and Gass had a really solid idea here but I just don't think they believed in their own concept enough to trust it to deliver what they wanted. I don't know if there's an actual term for it...for the sake of this review, I'm calling it "Rock and Roll Improv", the art of putting instant lyrics to famous rock progressions, but there is NOBODY in the business who does it better than Jack Black and as this movie began, I thought "OMG, this is going to be awesome, a Jack Black rock and roll opera!" Unfortunately, my dreams turned to dross when characters actually started speaking lines, because most of the actors cast in this film were pretty dreadful (including Gass). If Black had fully committed to this idea and made the story a rock opera, this film would have been amazing.
Instead of amazing, what we ended up with is a sluggish musical comedy that provides laughs, especially for rock music fans, but these laughs do not sustain through the closing credits...and the film is only 90 minutes long! Sadly, it was a pretty long ninety minutes that found me glancing at my watch on occassion and even stifling the occasional yawn.
Jack Black is almost always worth watching, documented by School of Rock, but I think he might have had the ear of director Liam Lynch a little more in order to keep this thing moving at an entertaining pace. Gass is no actor but Black's respect for the guy is evident in every frame and every moment that these two spend in front of mics with guitars strapped to their chests was gold; unfortunately, there weren't enough of them. There are some clever cameos by Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, and Fred Armisen, but it's Black and Gass' show and their idea was a good one, I just wish they had committed to it completely.