Tenacious D in
The Pick of Destiny
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Directed by: Liam Lynch
Starring:
Jack Black - JB
Kyle Gass - KG
Jason Reed - Lee
Tim Robbins - The Stranger
Ben Stiller - Guitar Store Guy
Dave Grohl - Satan
I tend to receive a fair amount of envy when I tell my friends about movies I'll get to see weeks in advance. But with Tenacious D, it is I who am the envious one. They haven't heard the music. They await the soundtrack with blissful ignorance. They know it will be good, but they don't know that the five years since the D's first and only album has been worth the wait. They don't have songs like "Kickapoo" and "Beezleboss" still playing in their heads. I love the music and hate my friends for not sharing in my torment.
Unfortunately, the film doesn't provide the solace of advance knowledge. Even though Tenacious D (a duo comprised of actor/comedian Jack Black and comedian/master-guitarist Kyle Gass) define themselves as a rock band who do comedy, their comedy here isn't quite as strong their rock. The film is funny, but the story of the band's formation and obtaining the Pick of Destiny (a guitar pick crafted the chipped tooth of Satan) rarely utilizes the full potential of its comic leads and it certainly never reaches the excellence of the songs they play.
It isn't that Black and Gass lack comic timing or chemistry. It isn't that Lynch's direction doesn't capture the fantastical themes of The D's rock. It's that sequences like Ben Stiller's cameo or a car chase that leave you impatient for the next song or next moment of high energy. When the film dwells in the random and the fantastic is where it tends to be the best.
I don't have much desire to see Pick of Destiny again, especially when better comedies will soon be on DVD (Talladega Nights, Beefest) or still in theatres (Borat). However, once the soundtrack hits on November 14, I'll be playing it on a continuous loop for next few months.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
11.6.06