Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006)

"How did that feel?"

"Really good.  How did it look?"

"Amazing… ly bad."

The Skinny:

A buddy movie retelling the origin of the rock bank Tenacious D and their quest for the fabled Pick of Destiny.

The Review:

Tenacious D, composed of Jack Black and his faithful sidekick Kyle Gass, is by most accounts, an acquired taste.  If you like them, you love them and if you don't, you don't get it and wont give it a second look.  I personally love them.  Ever since I first saw them on "Mr. Show" years ago, I was hooked.  Jack Black is someone I could watch in comedic roles all day long.  He has so much spastic energy I could probably watch him fold laundry and think it was funny.  This was apparent to me since the day I first saw High Fidelity and he burst into the record store in singing Walking on Sunshine with that orange t-shirt with an iron-on cheeseburger decal.  I specify 'comedic' roles because who can honestly sit through King Kong and not wait for him to do something retarded enough to incite some sort of gut-bursting laughter?  (Sadly, that never happened…)  In any event, it goes without saying that I find Jack Black to be extremely funny when he effortlessly applies himself.  I guess that's the main reason why I didn't like this movie.  In the past it was the effortlessness at which he approached these roles that I was drawn to.  Here it seemed like they knew what worked so they tried to kick it up a notch and pushed too hard for laughs.  All it ended up accomplishing was overdoing the material to the point of mockery.  You know how weak-minded comedic sequels that have no business getting made (Austin Powers) pick the few laughs from the original and try to recreate them again to a watered down effect?  This whole movie has that feeling.  It's a coming-of-age, road trip, buddy movie complete with car chase and a Satan playing guitar climax.  Otherwise known as what you would expect from a Tenacious D movie without the expected laughs.  They should have stuck to their sketch comedy length skits because as a feature film, it just falls apart.

The Rub:

So overall, as much as it pains me to admit it (and it really does), I didn't like this movie much at all.  I love Jack Black's comedic presence most of the time and I really dig the music of the D, but this movie didn't work for me.  The plot was weak (even by the level of my diluted expectations), the story didn't stretch feature length, and the laughs were too hit and miss.  Tenacious D should stick to doing what they do best:  making kick ass music and trying to take over the world one rock song at a time.  And that's the rub.