| Dewey Finn | |
 | |
| Nickname | Mr. Finn |
| Age | 30 |
| Occupation | Musician Fake substitute teacher (formerly) Music Teacher. |
| Band Job | Guitarist/Lead Singer |
| Portrayer | Jack Black |
Dewey Finn is the main protagonist of the 2003 film, School of Rock. Dewey is a down-on-his-luck, energetic, 30-year-old wannabe rock superstar who at the very start of the film is kicked out of his own band 'No Vacancy' due to his antics such as constant 20-minute solos and stage diving.
History[]
At some point prior to the film's timeline, Dewey was a guitarist who had founded a band called No Vacancy. At the start of the film, No Vacancy is performing at a nightclub which has posters advertising the Battle of the Bands which will happen next month. During the performance, Dewey behaves erratically and performs a stage dive. However the audience was not prepared for this and failed to react. As a result, Dewey hits the floor and is rendered unconscious, but eventually promptly recovers. The next morning, Dewey's roommate Ned Schneebly and his girlfriend, Patty Di Marco, inform Dewey that his share of the rent is overdue, and is being threatened with eviction. Dewey's only chance to avoid homelessness is to go get a job, which he is not enthuiastic about and confident that No Vacancy is due for its big break.
Later, when Dewey meets his bandmates at a rehearsal session, he finds out that he has been fired as a result of his antics during the nightclub performance the previous night, and has been replaced by another guitarist named Spider. Dewey holds up a gesture in front of his now-former bandmate, Theo "read between the lines", but not long before he intends to start another band, and kicks over a drum cymbal.
Back at the apartment, Dewey attempts to sell one of his guitars to make the rent money. Dewey touts his guitar as a 1968 Gibson SG in mint condition, but when he adds that it was once owned by Jimi Hendrix, the customer abruptly hangs up. (It was unknown why the sale was blown, although presumably the potential buyer did not accept the fact that Hendrix once owned it and thought it a scamful remark akin to trying to get money at an antiques show by saying "This was George Washington's favorite teapot"). Immediately after the failed sale, Dewey answers a phone call from Rosalie Mullins, the principal of a prep elementary school named Horace Green, who inquires for Ned about a short-term position as a substitute teacher for a few weeks, due to a teacher suffering a broken leg while en route to school. Desperate for money, Dewey impersonates Ned and is hired. On his first day, Dewey, who struggles to spell "Schneebly", requests that the students address him as "Mr. S", and spends the day behaving erratically, to the students' confusion.
The next morning, when walking past the class's music class in his spare time, he discovers the students are musically talented and decides to make them into a rock band and compete in the Battle of the Bands and get revenge on his old band. He manages to get the class to go along with the idea by telling them that it is a school project and if they keep it secret from the other staff, they can start before the others. Dewey and the class manage to keep their band practices secret from the rest of the school by blacking out windows, sound-proofing the classroom and placing cameras to watch the hallways. When Mullins comes in to check on Dewey's teaching, she stands aside to watch Dewey provide a song about math.
One night, he is eventually exposed; at the apartment, Ned receives a paycheck in the mail under his name and immediately finds out that Dewey impersonated him all the while, and at Parent's Night, he is questioned by the students' parents by his teaching, but when Mullins, his roommates, and the police confront him, he reveals his true identity, admits he is not a certified teacher, and then is such mistaken for child abuser after saying that he was touched by the students and was sure he "touched" the kids, before fleeing back to his apartment. Upon return, both he and Patty argue on , but not long before Ned intervenes and suggests that Dewey move out. The next day he is convinced to go with the kids and play at the Battle of the Bands. As Dewey thought it would be a good idea for the kids to perform in their school uniforms, they present him with an adult sized version of the uniform. At the last minute, Dewey is impressed with one of the songs that one student, Zach, wrote days earlier and recommends they perform that instead of his own written work. The performance is spectacular, but ultimately lose to No Vacancy.
When No Vacancy comes forward to accept the prize, the crowd vents great displeasure and boos them (excluding at least one fan), and demand an encore from School of Rock. Sometime later after the performance, Dewey continues to coach the Horace Green students he had "taught" at a newly-opened School of Rock after-school program, alongside with his roommate Ned who teaches beginners.
Musical Influences and impact on his students[]
Most obviously, Dewey Finn is influenced by hard rock and heavy metal; most notably bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Motörhead, all of whom none of the class knew prior to forming the band, much to Dewey's frustration. He is also a fan of guitarist Jimi Hendrix and claims in the film when on the phone presumably to a music store trying to sell one of his guitars for money to pay roommate, Ned and his strict girlfriend, Patty his share of the rent, that the guitar in question Hendrix once played. At the parents evening, Dewey described Zack as the next Hendrix. When introducing Zack to the electric guitar, which the latter had never played before on account of his dad's views on the instruments as being a waste of time, Dewey showed him how to play the opening riffs to songs such as Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". During the end credits, Dewey also performed AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna' Rock 'N Roll)". In addition to hard rock and heavy metal bands, Dewey appears to also be a fan of new wave band, Blondie and progressive rock acts, Rush, Yes and Pink Floyd. Dewey gives his students and members of the School of Rock, CDs from his collection to listen to for homework, giving an unknown student (though possibly Katie) Led Zeppelin's debut self-titled album, Martha, Blondie's "Parallel Lines", Lawrence, Yes' "Fragile" (telling him to especially listen to the keyboard solo on "Roundabout", which may have possibly inspired Lawrence's improvised solo on "It's A Long Way To The Top (if You Wanna' Rock 'N Roll)"), Freddie, Rush's "2112" (describing the band's drummer, Neil Peart as one of the greatest drummers of all time), Zack, The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Axis: Bold as Love" and Tomika's Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" (telling her to especially listen to the vocal solo on "The Great Gig In The Sky", which may have possibly inspired her own vocal solo in "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna' Rock 'N Roll)").
Dewey also introduced his students to punk rock, inspiring them to later "stick it to the man" by running away from the school to play Battle of the Bands. Dewey developed Freddie's influence in punk, introducing the latter to punk acts such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Ramones and the Buzzcocks (all mentioned on the board and slide projector). Judging by Freddie's later change in fashion to a new punk rock look it's possible that the latter developed a fondness for Pistols drummer Paul Cook, having taken on a similar image to the latter. After losing Battle of the Bands, Freddie reminded Dewey that the "Sex Pistols never won anything" and yet they were still one of the most successful punk bands (and bands in general) of all time. Dewey also introduced Freddie to drummers such as Keith Moon from The Who, jazz drummer, Jo Jones...