Weekend Movies: Black, Washington Spark New Movies

By Bob Tourtellotte, 10/3/2003

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comic actor Jack Black and Oscar winner Denzel Washington rock movie theaters on Friday in two nationwide debuts, "School of Rock" and "Out of Time," films that without their stars might have faded quickly from the spotlight.

Black's name appears above the "School of Rock" title and he alone is expected to pull fans into theaters to give the movie its box office punch. Critics, so far, like his work.

"You think you can resist Jack Black, no matter what he throws at you, but the first lesson 'School of Rock' teaches is that you can't. He is that funny," wrote Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan.

Screenwriter Mike White ("Chuck & Buck"), a long-time friend, said he wrote the "Rock" central role of Dewey Finn especially for Black.

"I wish all the movies I'd done were written like that, in my voice," Black told reporters in recent interviews.

Dewey Finn is a rock star wannabe whose own band hates him, so they kick him out. Lacking cash to pay the rent, Finn impersonates his school teacher and roommate, Ned Schneebly, and takes a job as a substitute to a pack of fifth graders.

His first days are filled with boredom, until he learns that his pupils are talented musicians. From there, he teaches them to play rock music and win a local battle of the bands.

That is the basic plot in "School of Rock," aimed mostly at kids, with a message of learning to be an individual. Black's first lesson is that rock tells us how to "stick it to the man."

Absent Black's manic style and enthusiasm for music -- he and a partner formed mock rock act "Tenacious D" -- "School of Rock" would be standard Hollywood fare, but when the plot slows, Black gets in the face of the audience and cranks up his own volume.

"School of Rock" is rated PG-13 for some rude humor and drug references.

DENZEL'S DIRTY DEED

"Out of Time" also comes with a fairly standard plot, but Washington's small town sheriff, Matt Whitlock, who is framed for a crime, has left audiences applauding in early screenings.

"Washington does play the desperation well; it becomes Matt's defining characteristic," writes New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell, who adds: "Washington also manages to find the comedy in Matt's predicament."

As "Out of Time" gets underway, Whitlock is a seemingly good-natured guy and sheriff of tiny Banyan Key, Florida, who is in the throes of a divorce from his wife, Alex, a Miami detective played by Eva Mendes.

Whitlock, too, is having an affair with his former high school sweetheart, Ann Merai, who is married to former high school quarterback and Whitlock rival, Chris.

When Whitlock discovers Ann Merai has terminal cancer, he gives her over $400,000 in cash he has held as evidence in a drug bust. But the day he gives her the money, Ann Merai and Chris disappear, leaving behind a burned house with two dead bodies.

Whitlock is identified as being outside their house the night of the fire. Arson is suspected. His wife brings in a team of Miami cops to investigate, and federal drug officers want the money -- all in the same day. The clock is ticking on Whitlock to prove his innocence, but his problem is that he is not all that innocent. He is, after all, a thief.

Like "Rock," "Out of Time" might be considered a fairly routine Hollywood whodunit, but watching Washington work through Whitlock's predicament makes the movie entertaining.

"Out of Time" is rated PG-13 for sexual content, violence and some language, and unlike "School of Rock" is aimed at older audiences.