Jack Black’s Top Five Movies

Jack Black has come a long way from appearing in a 1982 commercial for the Atari game Pitfall!.Black’s newest movie, Kung Fu Panda 3, is the latest installment of a billion dollar movie franchise that has spawned multiple television spinoffs and specials.While Black is a surprisingly versatile actor, he’s best known for his goofy comedic style and his ability to play lovable losers.Black’s infectious enthusiasm even seeped into Dreamworks’ plans for Kung Fu Panda.After hearing Black’s take on Po, the main character of the franchise, movie producers shifted the character from an arrogant jerk to the goofy underdog loved by millions of moviegoers.

To celebrate the release of Kung Fu Panda 3, here’s five of our favorite Jack Black films:

High Fidelity

While Black had appeared in smaller roles in many movies during the early years of his acting career, his breakout role was as the obnoxious and opinionated record store employee Barry in High Fidelity.  While foulmouthed and needlessly belittling, Barry’s character lived and breathed music.  When he wasn’t debating “Top Five” lists with his co-workers, Barry was bragging about his band (whose name changes several times throughout the film).  While everyone assumed that Barry and his band sucked, High Fidelity‘s big payoff came when Barry and his band took the stage at the end of the film and delivered a surprisingly fun rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”. 

Black’s portrayal in High Fidelity was his first chance to really make a character his own.  From the moment he began vulgarly dancing to “Walkin’ On Sunshine”, you could just tell that Black would be one of those actors you either loved…or absolutely hated. 

School of Rock

Black played another musically inclined loser, Dewey Finn in School of Rock.  Desperate for a job to pay rent, Dewey poses as a substitute teacher and meets a class of gifted prep students.  After discovering that many of the students can play instruments, Dewey puts the class to work, transforming them into a rock band and stage crew. While his methods are unorthodox, Dewey’s project teaches the kids about self-confidence and gives Dewey a purpose for the first time in his life.  

School of Rock proved to be one of Black’s most successful movies, earning him a Golden Globe nomination and wide acclaim.  The movie also spawned a musical stage adaptation and an upcoming Nickelodeon TV show remake that will air sometime this year.

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, Jack Black is a real life musical aficionado.  In addition to his acting career, Black’s also the lead singer/guitarist of Tenacious D, a Grammy Award winning “mock rock” duo.  With longtime friend Kyle Gass, Tenacious D gained a cult following over the years by opening for bands like Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam and appearing in a failed HBO TV series.  To promote the release of their second album, Tenacious D filmed and starred in a feature length film called Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, which showed a (fictitious) account of how the band formed.  While the movie was a box office bomb and a bit of a mess, The Pick of Destiny had its funny moments and features Dave Grohl as Satan, so it’s not that bad. 

The Pick of Destiny’s poor performance didn’t dissuade the band from continuing to perform. In 2012, Tenacious D won a Grammy for their cover of the Dio song “The Last in Line”.  

Bernie

Black earned a second Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Bernie, a dark comedy based on the real life murder a rich Texas widow.  Black starred as a popular local mortician who befriends the widow, but eventually murders her after experiencing months of abuse.  Black brought his usual charm and good nature to the performance, but without his usual manic enthusiasm and with a more sinister undercurrent. For a film about a murder, Bernie was a surprisingly enjoyable take on small town life, with Black shining in what was probably his best movie performance yet.   Bernie also had some real life repercussions.  After viewing the film, an attorney successfully had the real life Bernie Tiede released from prison while a judge reviewed his case and sentence. 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

While Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy featured cameos by just about every leading comedic actor from the late 2000s, none played as important of a role as Jack Black’s nameless motorcyclist.  After Burgundy hits Black with a burrito while driving and causes him to wreck his motorcycle, Black retaliates by punting Burgundy’s beloved dog Baxter off the side of a bridge.  Distraught over losing his dog, Burgundy missed that evening’s newscast and caused his girlfriend Veronica to fill in for him.  As Veronica’s career took off due to the newscast, Burgundy’s life began to spiral out of control, leading to him losing his job, friends and fame.