Film Reviews

Rock School

• Rating:
• Director: Don Argott
• Starring:
• Details: US / 93 mins (15s).

"If you don't tell a kid what they can't do," says Rock School guru Paul Green, "maybe they'll never find out." A self-confessed failed rock musician, Green has channelled his love for head-banging, guitar solos and very loud rock 'n' roll into Rock School, an academy where 9 to 17year-olds can learn the basics of what it takes to become rock gods and goddesses. "It's a lovable quirk that he's mentally disturbed," observes one kid about Green, and while he may well be in full control of his faculties, it's undeniable that Green's teaching eschews the more touchy-feely methods in favour of tough, tough love. "Get it wrong once, I'll punch your face in," is one of the milder forms of encouragement - but for all his bluster and in-your-face aggression, Green's methods are hugely successful. The narrative arc of the film takes the kids all the way from Philadelphia to a Frank Zappa festival in Germany, where they take on the challenge of playing Inca Roads, one of the most difficult songs in Zappa's avant-garde back catalogue, to an audience of devoted Zappa fans - with some of Zappa's former backing band guesting on stage. Funny, touching, entertaining and at times repulsive, Rock School is a warts-'n'-all look at a unique man's perspective on life filtered through rock music. It may not be pretty, but it might just get you hauling that old six-string down out of the attic.

Review by Declan Burke