linklater knows how to do it

When Catherine and I woke up this morning, the others were already up watching "School of Rock." I marveled again at this movie. Of all people, Richard Linklater turns out to have had the perfect touch. Who would have guessed that the guy who did "Dazed and Confused" and "Slacker" and "Waking Life" and "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" would pull off a summer blockbuster and a kids' favorite?

On the other hand, one of the things that makes the movie work is the unvarnished authenticity of it: the musicians are actually musicians, and what they're playing is actually what they're playing, so you don't get that floaty fakeness that afflicts most movies about music. Over the closing credits, the kids take solos, and you realize that they're really doing it right then and there. Of course, one thing that makes that possible is that the closing credits are done with only one camera and in only one take, so there are no stupid synchronization problems. The result is pure joy. All of a sudden, one sees the connection: the guy who let Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy just fall in love in front of a camera is the same one who let Jack Black delight some really talented children.

I can't believe he got the thing produced in today's climate. But I salute him.