Review by Mark Mallon

"Have you ever had feelings for a nun?"

We've all seen them. They're a dime a dozen. They're the underdog-unexpectedly-makes-good-on-hidden-talent-and-comes-up-the-ranks-to-take-the-victory-from-the-obviously-superior-opponent-who-doesn't-have-as-much-heart movies. The Mighty Ducks were the Bad News Bears with a victory at the end--never did see the version with Billy-Bob Thornton.

When I saw the commercials for this movie, that's what I thought. Well, there weren't as many words in my thought, but the intent was there. There was only one thing that made me want to see this movie. It wasn't even something I could really get behind, it was this dark sense of foreboding, much like the one that just builds in the back of the mind through most of School of Rock. I knew that there was an angle in there that hadn't been played; there would have to be, for Jack Black to even look at it. I had to know exactly how he was going to approach it, because he's not your formulaic-movie kind of guy. Breath of fresh air, that.

The sense of foreboding here was me laughing at the movie, okay, with the movie, while waiting for the other shoe to drop. At the end of the movie, I found the other shoe, but it didn't so much drop as kick me in the face. What can I say, I like surprises. There were times when we wondered, but they were few and far between, at least for me. Regardless of any disparity between our laughs, we both agreed it was worth the price of admission. We disagreed on one of the plot points, that being whether there was a higher power at work, or maybe his noble spirit or something, or just something completely ridiculous. I say ridiculous, all the way.

There was at least one seriously notable actor in there, but I'm only pretty sure it's who I think it is (quite famous these days) because he was never out of a wrestling mask, and I don't make a habit of reading the credits. If it was him, he was there because it was fun or something, and he's not too big on himself to let someone else have the spotlight. That, and I imagine working with Jack black to be great fun, worth never actually showing one's face.

Of course, that's the most charitable theory, but I'm a nice guy and I like Jack Black. He's got a great and rare talent for being able to laugh at himself and take it seriously. "If anyone can pull this off, it's him," I was saying before the movie. Seriously, if you like his other work, I think you'll like this one.