"Rock ‘n’ Roll High School" (1979)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is a musical built around The Ramones, but the musical aspects aren’t really what make the film so entertaining. If you enjoy the music of The Ramones it will be enjoyable, but, though the musical moments are well-shot, The Ramones are an uncharismatic screen presence. Instead, what makes the film work is the simple fact that anyone can get behind the film for its embracement of the punk ethos The Ramones represented (and the band could easily be swapped out for any other late 70’s punk band and this would still work). Like Freaks, the film that inspired one of The Ramones’ best songs, the film has an abiding affection for weirdos and misfits, and it gives them, led by the band’s self-proclaimed biggest fan (PJ Soles), an opportunity to fight for control of their school, through music and an anarchic spirit, against the dictatorial control of the new principal (Mary Woronov). For most of its runtime though, the film is simply a very self-aware teen film. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School functions off of a lovable cartoon logic. There’s a Looney Toons appeal to the film, which functions less on plot than on a grab bag of high jinks and tomfoolery. This is a film where one of the best running gags involves taking a joke about a lab experiment on mice to its logical conclusion, having the mice become human sized; no one bats an eye at this. But it makes sense within the rationale of the film’s world: anything goes, as long as you’re not keeping anyone down.

Grade: B+