The Richard Linklater Movie That Serves as a Warning
Jack Black is a funny guy, not only because he says funny things, but also because of how he says them and how he looks while saying them. Black is no king of one-liners or master impersonator or glutton for physical punishment. Instead, his performances in movies such as Nacho Libre, School of Rock, and High Fidelity demonstrate the comfortable charisma of a class clown who survived maturity and grew up to be the life of the party. Picture his wild-eyed expression throwing some mustard onto his already flavorful line deliveries, the ease with which he jerks around his body to elicit a dumb laugh. Even in more consciously adult comedies such as The Holiday, where he dials it back a notch or six, Black is still a natural entertainer. Another way of thinking about this is that although Black is known for his comedies, he’s not exactly a comedian—he’s an actor who innately understands how to earn a laugh.
